


Origins of Koko

by Kaykic



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender, Rise of Kyoshi - Fandom, Shadow of Kyoshi - Fandom
Genre: Angst, F/F, Fluff, Rangshi - Freeform, Rangshi endgame
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-01
Updated: 2020-12-12
Packaged: 2021-03-08 19:09:24
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 21,266
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27321745
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kaykic/pseuds/Kaykic
Summary: Let us see six different versions of one story, each detailing one way Koko could be Kyoshi's daughter while Rangi was her forever girl.orI'm sick and tired of hearing "But RangshiCAN'Tbe endgame, because Kyoshi has a daughter". And I bet I'm not the only one.Chapter One: AdoptionChapter Two: Natural InseminationChapter Three: Artificial InseminationChapter Four: Trans RangiChapter Five: The Shadow of KyoshiChapter Six: Helping Spirit
Relationships: Kyoshi/Rangi (Avatar)
Comments: 98
Kudos: 184





	1. Adoption

It was cold in the harbor village. Cold and snowing with a dash of sleet for good measure. And this was a problem. It happened so early in the calendar that it was practically in the wrong season, and the Fire National didn’t like it one bit. Oh, snow could be fun if you could stay close to home and go inside any time you liked. This wasn’t one of those times. The surprise of the snow had been preceded by a fast-moving rainstorm, soaking everyone’s firewood right before the temperature dropped enough to freeze. Now there was a layer of snow covering a layer of solid ice on the ground, which made any terrain travel a chore at best. Kyoshi, Rangi, and Kirima had to endure, the people needed firewood to survive, so they split up to unfreeze and dry enough to get the villages through the night.

The task was certain done much faster by the waterbenders who didn’t need to worry about destroying the wood they were trying to make useful, but she didn’t shrug off her duty and worked later than they had to get the same amount of work done. But it was done now. After respectfully refusing the last offer of a drink from the family decanter, Rangi made her way to the inn for the night, sure footed despite the hazardous conditions.

Any passerby of this Northeasten Earth village, if they were not already inside and tending to the fires, would look at her and see nothing but calm determination as she stomped through the snow like she was marching to battle. In reality, she was fighting off a shiver underneath her heavy fur cloak, the small flame lighting her way did little to fight the cold. 

Once she got to their lodgings, everything would be fine. Her tall girl promised her uninterrupted evening just for them, barring any emergency (and Yangchen help the fool who forced them apart, because Kyoshi would not). “A warm meal.” Her oaf whispered in her ear, “A hot bath. And plenty of stamina training after.” The promise had made the already tedious task an absolute punishment to endure. 

She was so ready to collect her reward for doing hours of charity work while freezing her topknot off that she almost missed the young voice, almost. Rangi was a hardened soldier after all, any disruptive noise had her in defensive mode. She wouldn’t let the promise of a roll in the sheets dull her common sense to that extent.

“Get at her head!” The voice was over stimulated, a tone she remembered from her younger days. When she witnessed a group of bullies picking a girl twice their size. There was no way the Fire Captain couldn’t act.

“What is going on here?!” she bellowed in the deepest voice, rage making her breath fire and flames shooting out of each hand. There were four children. Three of the children were obviously a set of triplet teenaged boys; they were surrounding another child laying on the ground - an incredibly small one at that. 

To understand Rangi’s anger, one would have to see what she saw in that moment. Anyone would have the same reaction. None of the boys had cloaks, and one had even removed his shirt to put over the younger person's face. The first boy was holding the child’s feet. The second laying across the girl’s midsection. There was a sharp broken piece of board in the third’s hand and the motion of his arm gave a clear impression that he was about to strike it against the little head he was kneeling beside. This looked like the kind of attack mothers warn their daughters about when traveling alone at night.

But this was not as it seemed. These young boys were about to remind Rangi that not all children were like the bullies of Yokoya, there were those who were capable of showing kindness to a stranger.

“Thank Kyoshi!” The Third threw his weapon away, “It’s you!”

“We need your help!” The second sat up, revealing that the missing cloaks and were in fact over the girl, the furs had been obstructed by the new fallen snow, the boy’s body, and the shadows.

“Come here! Her feet are ice!”

Rangi ran over to assess the girl, taking off the shirt that meant to warm the face, to reveal a child no more than four. She would’ve thought her dead if there hadn’t been a wheezing sound. Her hair and clothes had frozen to the ground, tears frozen to her face, and her skin was such a ghastly color. Kyoshi was the only one who could save her now, but to do that Rangi needed to burn the sleet and snow that was holding the child hostage. There would be burns on her skin, hopefully they would be small and mild. The hair gave off a foul odor as it too, burned with the ice.

“I’ll take her to the avatar.” She picked the living ice sickle up and ran to the inn. The boys followed, whether it was to escort her (which would be a poor attempt as they lagged so far behind) or to retrieve their clothing, Rangi would never find out. She kicked the door urgently to be let in and blasted past any who questioned her to the bath house.

The commotion caught Kyoshi’s ear and she’d entered as Rangi was heating water to lukewarm temperature. “She needs your help, Kyoshi.”

* * *

The child survived the night. Whether or not she continued to do so was purely up to the girl and her stubbornness. Rangi felt annoyed and helpless as she explained to the concerned townsfolk that the Avatar was overseeing the girl’s recovery and inquired about the girl’s parents, guardians, or lack thereof, so she knew whose eyebrows to singe. The news hadn’t been what she wanted to hear.

***

“They said her name is Koko.” Rangi said from the doorway of their room, Kyoshi was finishing up a healing session, bending the water back into its basin, “Her parents are dead, and she has no other known family.”

She saw a knowing look enter Kyoshi’s eyes, one of pain and grief; another orphan who’d been cast aside by the townsfolk like a leaky boot. Rangi couldn’t bare it, she put her arms around her avatar’s form and squeezed tight. The past was the past, she was loved now. Hated by some, feared by many more, but by the few people that mattered, she was adored.

“They thought she was dead, too.” She explained, pulling Kyoshi out of a spiral of unpleasant memories. “Apparently, her family was new to this area. They weren’t experienced sailors and didn’t heed any of the warnings; their boat sank three days ago. Until last night, they thought she was on the boat when it went under.”

“Poor thing.” Kyoshi murmured in Rangi’s hair, hugging her tighter. The pressure hurt slightly, but the firebender endured. In times of sadness she and her lover served as the other’s stuffed animal, to be cuddled and squeezed until they felt better.

“What are her chances?”

“I wish I could say they were good. I’m good at healing, I’m just not good enough.” She said with so little hope. And that helplessness feeling began to boil her blood. She cursed the ocean, the weather, the foolish parents, and the unobservant townspeople who overlooked a young child running about on her own.

“Well we can’t just give up. The snow has stopped, so the bison can fly.” She put a hand against Kyoshi’s cheek, “You stay here and keep her alive, I’ll take Jinpa and drag Atuat here, okay?” 

“I hope she can make it that long.”

“She will, because she has you. You’ve probably forgotten this, but you are a waterbending master and one hell of a healer.” She took a drill sergeants’ tone. Her Avatar could do many things, assuming she remembered that she had the ability. This was no time for forgetfulness or doubt, "So keep her alive. That's an order!"

***

The girl was strong and stubborn, and she helped Kyoshi distract death so Atuat could pick his pocket once again. The waterbender roared about her success over drinks in the village’s tavern. For once, Rangi did not even try to wrangle her in. The girl was in great shape all things considering. There would be at least some loss of feeling in the Koko’s feet for the rest of her life and a few small burn scars near the hip, but if that was all the damage she suffered from that experience, Atuat had a right to crow like a peacockrooster.

Everyone in the village claimed to have no space, or funds, to take care of Koko on a permanent basis. Rangi was skeptical that **_no one_ **could put her up, but at least they didn’t do as Yokoya had done to Kyoshi. It was better admit that they wouldn’t care for a child rather than to take her in only to throw her back to the streets when she became an inconvenience.

It wouldn’t be fair not to mention that they didn’t completely disregard the child either. A collection was taken by the mayor. Some money was scrounged up, hand me downs brought in (her three saviors cut up their old cloaks and made a blanket, a cloak and two sets of mishappen booties for her), some food and supplies and toys were packed into travel bags. They drew up a rough map of the nearest big city with what they heard were good orphanages circled on them. 

She never actually went to one. Someone in their group always had concerns including, but not limited to: 

This place is pretty full already.

Are we sure they’re following the proper safety procedures? Those toys don’t look safe. 

Not enough space to play.

The decor tells me that they do not care about theater.

Do you smell that food? Topknot’s rotisserie sealrat smells better than that.

I don’t like the administrator’s mole. What? I don’t.

This place is nice, isn’t it unfortunate that we left Koko with Wong at the camp?

Five months of excuses later, The Flying Opera company had become surprisingly good at keeping the child safe and happy (as happy as she could be anyway, given the circumstances ). Koko seemed to take the nomadic lifestyle like an airbender. The group often mused that Koko must hold the title for ‘Youngest Avatar Companion In Avatar history’, which the girl took to be a compliment even if she didn’t understand what the words truly meant. ‘You’re my toughest companion’, Kyoshi would gently remind the girl when she was curled between them and scared, typically when there was snow or a cold rain. It would usually trick her into being brave. 

Finally, they were flying home to Yokoya. To a real bed and a homemade meal, maybe some of Auntie Mui’s bad poetry. She was sure the older woman would dote on the child, spoiling her rotten just to ruin all Rangi’s hard work of teaching self-discipline and manners. Though if she were being honest, she would tolerate the woman’s sabotage for a night if it meant getting some alone time with Kyoshi. Koko latched onto the two of them and, well, it made finding the privacy to indulge in a little intimacy a challenge. Rangi loved the child, but she was getting a little antsy in that area of her life.

_“It’s a normal feeling. You can love a child with all that you are and want a break now and then.” Hei-Ran assured her daughter that she wasn’t a monster for wanting some space._

_“It feels wrong somehow.” Rangi had tea with her mother when their travels took them to the Fire Nation three months ago, and there she confided in her about the inner turmoil she felt. Wanting to be alone, even for short while -every now and then - made her feel unworthy of the position of a guardian; it made her consider retracting some of her concerns about the orphanages for Koko’s sake. She couldn't bare to say the words to Kyoshi, and everyone else was useless for advice. Her mother was the only one she could go to for an honest opinion and guidance, “Doesn’t she deserve someone who wants to be caring for her, always?”_

_“Caring for others is a useless gesture unless you can care for yourself as well. I had thought I had already taught you this. Motherhood is a wonderful burden,” they both ignored the term used, “and just like unpleasant burdens, it makes us grow weary. You must spend some time apart, for her sake as well as yours.” Then, in a most kind gesture, her mother offered to watch over the child for the afternoon so she and Kyoshi could shed the responsibilities of childrearing._

_When they managed to clean up and drag themselves out of their room, supper had been finished. Her mother and ward were in the sitting room, Koko stood at attention as Hei-Ran corrected her pose. Her hair done up in a topknot, she looked like the very example of an army brat. It made Rangi wonder if there had ever been an earthbender in the Fire Military before._

A snicker broke her from her thoughts. She glared across the saddle at Kirima. It had little effect. Even if the older woman could be intimidated by anyone, Rangi’s position had her looking a little too endearing to be a threat. She was leaning back against the saddle, and both of her girls were sleeping, using her for their pillows as they snored the day away. Kyoshi’s head laid on her lap and a long arm tightly wrapped around one of her knees. Koko claimed Rangi’s torso, head on her shoulder and the captain’s arm around her back to keep her close. Her leg was tingling, and drool was forming on her shirt, but she hadn’t the heart to move either of them.

“What’s so funny?” she growled, softly as not to disturb the two. Whether Kirima actually heard her or just read her lips would always be a mystery.

“Oh,” she examined her fingernails, which she’d finished cleaning with Rangi’s favorite knife a mere hour before, “It’s just the thought of Her Most Honorable Madam Topknot making an honest woman out of the avatar and adopting the girl properly.”

“Mind your own business.” She growled, tensing up and checking to make sure the two hadn’t woken up and heard the whole thing. Their snoring continued without missing a beat and she sighed in relief. This is probably why she chose this moment to torment the younger woman, Rangi was trapped beneath her family and couldn’t afford to wake them up, “How did you know?”

“Don’t leave your open mail in public domain, sparky.” She held a letter from Hei-Ran, and Rangi remembered foolishly leaving it under the tree where she’d been reading in her haste to examine the contract that had come with it.

“Give that back.” Flames danced at the edge of her tongue, just waiting to be released. Damn the confined space she found herself in.

“Why not?” she shrugged, packing the letter under the tarp where Rangi’s pack lay, “I’ve already got the goods anyway.”

“Not one word to Kyoshi.” The moment of truth; where was Kirima going with this. She may be a sworn sister, but she was also proof that the word ‘family’ only carried so much weight in daofei circles.

“Not one word.” She grinned bigger, “Several words. Flowery, too. Though I _could_ be persuaded to change my mind.” The implication was clear. Should Rangi want to do this proposal right she would have to purchase Kirima’s silence.

“What do you want?” She kept her voice even; any show of the desperation she felt would make the price rise. There was a proper way for this to go.

She was supposed to take Kyoshi to a secluded place when the sun was highest in the sky. She was to present her mother’s proposal contract that detailed her family’s conditions for the union- not all that many, especially for a noble family-, along with a gift of Kyoshi’s favorite sweets. Then she was to bow and wait with bated breath while Kyoshi reviewed the terms. When she finished, the tall woman would either eat the sweets in acceptance of the Hei-Ran’s offer, or cast them aside in rejection.

The surprise was important in her nation. Surprise meant the marriage was a union of love, not material or social gain. Nobles never got surprise proposals; the contract was prearranged and agreed upon between the households, the private ceremony nothing more than a formality. It would be like telling the love of her life she only wanted to marry her for her status. Unacceptable.

“I was thinking about that lovely black and red butterflybear cloak you have.” Of course. After that Fall Snow/ice storm, Rangi had thrown good money into a durable, soft, and unbelievably warm cloak. She knew Kirima had her eyes on it, and she’d spent the last five months avoiding any games of chance knowing they would be rigged to take her prized cloak away.

“It’s yours. Only that.” She said firmly, and while she was prepared to give so much more, she knew how this kind of bartering was done. She would try to keep the price down claiming she wasn’t willing to give all she had up to and including her title and fortune. “My cloak for your complete silence.”

“It’s a deal.” It was? Rangi waited for Kirima to say something along the lines of _‘however, there is that fancy sword in your room’_ or, _‘I could use a break from my daily chores for a month’_ , but it never came. The woman dug around for Rangi’s - her- cloak and settled beneath it “Congratulations on your upcoming marriage, Sparky.”

“Shush.” She hissed, checking once again that Kyoshi was asleep and she didn’t barter away an extravagant cloak for nothing. The older woman winked and turned to her back to the Fire National. It really was the end of the deal? Why didn’t Kirima take the chance sheer her like the frogsheep she was? An act of mercy, maybe. Maybe the news hit a tender spot in Kirima’s heart, however small it may be. She certainly wasn’t going to risk her wool by asking. “Thank you.”


	2. Natural Insemination

There was a soft, and yet large thud just outside Kyoshi’s bedroom window. A grin appeared on her face before she even looked up from her task, Rangi was finally home. There was some squabble over inheritance from the death of some distant cousin her wife had never even met, and she had to go withdraw her claim in person and leave the rest of the clan to fight over what they wanted.

She set the broom aside as Rangi climbed down from the bison, and through the window. The Avatar laughed at such a childish act, and there was that smile of her wife’s. It joined the eyes to create a look that made Kyoshi’s mind fly from her body and straight into the gutter. She felt her lips form into a lopsided, dopey grin. Rangi’s hand was on her chest, their eyes met... and the avatar held her ground when the shorter woman tried to pull her off balance.

“Good.” Her wife smirked, “No stance training today.” Only then, when Rangi could not honorably break her word, did Kyoshi allow herself to be pulled down by her tunic to meet her wife’s lips. “Good thing. I have plans for tonight and I don’t want you to be sore. Yet.”

“What are these plans of yours?” Kyoshi toyed with the sash around the firebender’s waist.

“Wouldn’t you like to know?” She crossed her arms, grinning up at her oaf.

“If you’re not going to tell me, then perhaps you should cool off.” She blew cold air down the front of Rangi’s shirt.

“Oooh!” she froze as the air hit her chest, “That’s it! Now you’re really in for it!” Rangi pushed her wife against the nearest wall and attacked her mouth, kissing and biting at her. Kyoshi moaned, grasping her wife’s tunic, and clenching it in her hands.

The sounds of two little stampedes vibrated through the halls and to their ears. The couple stilled against the wall and each other.

“Your children are home.” Rangi murmured against her lips, gentle and teasing. In an instant she transformed from lover to mother-and-wife. The tall womaned groaned as the stomping continued throughout the house, the image of the mess they were making out of the nice clean space forefront in her mind. 

“When they’re running, they’re your children.” Kyoshi murmured back. And they ran a lot. Often Kyoshi had to scold them for using the layout of their home as an obstacle course as they tried to imitate their raven-haired mother. But no matter how much trouble they got into, they persisted. 

Today was a Water Tribe holiday. Kyoshi knew this because it’s all she’s heard of for the last two days. Aput, the teacher Kyoshi hired to teach the servants’ children (and later teach her own as well), was throwing games for the youngsters during class in celebration. To say they were excited was an understatement. The sight of a bison flying overhead must have spurred them into missing the games and running across the estate to their house. “They must’ve seen you flying and ran out of class to see you.”

“Best not keep them waiting.”

“What?” she scoffed overdramatically, knowing full well that Rangi would allow this lapse in discipline because she missed her children as much as they missed her, “You’re not going to march your delinquent children right back to the schoolroom?”

“When they’re acting like delinquents, they’re your children. I’m sure they would just sneak out again.” She stole one last, long kiss; a promise of things to come later, “We will finish discussing these plans of mine after bedtime.” Rangi finally pulled away and straightened her clothes as she opened the bedroom door, “Koko! Ryo! I’m in here!”

The stampede turned its course and rushed to Rangi, but it was not with the smiling faces she expected. Tears fell down their red faces, and the six-year-olds clung to her legs. The firebender tried to pull away to look for injuries, but they were holding a surprising strongly grip.

“What’s wrong?” Kyoshi asked, coming around to Rangi’s front and dropping to one knee. She put a hand on each child’s back.

“Akio said we’re not twins!” Koko shouted into her mother’s pantleg. The parents glanced at each other with a look of ‘how do we handle this?’, ‘I have no idea’. 

“Hey, come on, let go of your mother’s legs you two.” Kyoshi manage to wrangle Ryo off her wife and held him in her arms. Rangi in turned managed to pick Koko up,

“Now what happened at school?” she asked calmly, no trace of her anger showing through.

“Akio said we aren’t twins cause we have different mothers.” They were both floored. Who dared tell that boy Akio that their children have different mothers? Rangi hoped whenever she found them, the person turned out to be a firebender so she could challenge them to an Agni Kai.

“He said what?” Kyoshi was bewildered and angry. They were both each child’s mother. By Fire Nation law, and by common law, this was certain.

“He said you’re our moms, but we’re spholoiclaly half-brother and sister?”

“You said the wrong word.” Koko berated from Rangi’s arms.

“Did you mean biologically?” The avatar offered.

“Yeah, that’s it.” Koko nodded before looking to her brother, “Dummy.”

“Don’t call your brother dummy, Koko.” Rangi glared at her daughter.

“Here is what we’re going to do. We’re going to eat something, then you’re going to clean your rooms. When your rooms are spotless, then we’ll talk about the biological issue.” The Captain spoke with her drill sergeant’s tone, and even the children knew there would be no argument.

That didn’t stop them from grumbling over lunch. They had refused to eat until Kyoshi reminded them that the sooner they ate and cleaned their rooms, the sooner they got to talk about the issue at hand. After that, the food disappeared at alarming rates, and so did the children; after one last warning of ‘And I do mean spotless’, from Rangi that is.

“So, what do we tell them?” The taller of the two asked, hoping some benevolent spirit would come through the window and zap the memory of this from their children.

“We always said we’d tell them the truth when they asked.”

“They really haven’t asked.” She pointed out, and shrunk under Rangi’s glare, “I just didn’t think it would be this soon.”

“Honestly, I don’t see what the big deal is. They’re our children. The man who made them isn’t important.”

“To us, he’s nothing. They may not feel that way. I just hope they don’t feel like they weren’t good enough for him.” Kyoshi knew that feeling all too well, and it would break her heart to know that either of her children felt the same.

“There’s no reason for them to feel abandoned.” Rangi took Kyoshi’s hand in her own, “He was never supposed to be in their lives. And that’s what we tell them.”

* * *

7 Years Ago

They had decided it was time to start a family, and Kyoshi couldn’t be more excited. At least for the end results. The whole process, and she did mean **_whole_** process, would be a tedious trial of patience. The process to even start the process had already been a chore. Though nearly everything involved with the Fire Nation was.

She would admit that the nation had such potential to be her favorite. They were tolerant of people such as her and Rangi. Among the lower classes, they were even considered necessary for the good of the nation. There were couples who could not have children, and there were children who needed a home. Their orphanages were undercrowded thanks to that sort of marriage. The Earth Kingdom should take note. If not for any moral reason, then for the practical ones.

The nobility of the Fire Nation was a little different. They held more stock in bloodlines, but there was a contingency plan in place. They hired surrogate mothers or male concubines as needed and paid them well for their services. It was unpleasant for all parties involved, but it was their duty to their clans to reproduce. It was Rangi’s duty as a member of clan Sei'naka to have a child. It was Kyoshi’s duty as a wife to support her.

The magic number was two. They wanted their child to have someone to play with, a partner in crime (Kirima and Wong’s words). Which led to the discussion of Kyoshi carrying one of them. It made sense in the end. If all went well, the children would be about the same age and their world traveling would be brought to a complete stop only once.

Hei-Ran was appointed by Kyoshi's degree. It was immediately decided by everyone, except Kyoshi, that a concubine would not be befitting the Avatar. A man of noble blood was needed. And since everything in the Fire Nation was politics, there were Agni Kai’s for the right to father the Avatar’s child before the official announcement had even been made! Every man tried to prove to be the perfect specimen, the best firebender; they provided documentation of their ancestry all the way back to the Sun Warriors. The disgraced former headmistress worked full time for months to wade through the sea of potential sires for her grandchildren.

His name was Eito. His family was in negotiations for his marriage, but those would be put on hold for now. Apparently, the honor of giving the Avatar (and her prestigious wife) a child was a good investment for his clan; the demands for his hand would increase one hundred-fold. This is why Hei-Ran was in charge. Kyoshi could not afford any Fire Nation noble clan to curry favor with her through her children. Her mother-in-law was the only one they could trust to find a man who was honorable enough to implant two children, then leave them alone without fuss and never speak of it again.

Hei-Ran did her job like she did all others, with military precision.

If someone were to ask Kyoshi what the peak of the male form was, she would simply point to Eito. Well, their children would be beautiful.

If Kyoshi were asked, ‘who is the perfect example of a firebending master’, she would say without hesitation: Rangi, then Hei-Ran. But third place was nothing to sneer at when those two were involved. There was an excellent chance both their children would be powerful firebenders.

He was polite and made himself scarce around the two women, which Kyoshi was grateful for. Rangi spoke of him as a temporary comrade, someone to be tolerated with good grace until his task was done. But she was raised in the Fire Nation, and this was a normal situation for a same-sex noble couple to find themselves in. Kyoshi was raised in the Earth Kingdom, and even with an airbender father, the idea was strange. Thinking of the end results got her over the mental hurdles; a little Rangi running around. A little Kyoshi, too....maybe not so little though. She wanted that. And if this was the way to get it, then she would endure with good poise.

Eito didn’t overstep his bounds when they met him in his bedroom so he could attempt the impregnation. He assumed they would get no pleasure from him and excused himself from his own room, bidding them to enjoy each other first, and to call when they were ready.

Kyoshi was too mortified and nervous to even move, luckily Rangi loved to take charge. She took off her oaf’s robe and breathed steam down her neck. She pushed Kyoshi down and whispered words of love and loyalty in her ear as she toyed with her in the most delicious of ways. First, she got Kyoshi to relax, and then she absolutely destroyed her with an earth (and every nearby clay jar) shattering orgasm.

“Don’t fret.” Rangi said after kissing Kyoshi’s freckles, “We’re just here for me tonight.” Kyoshi remembered, and no it didn’t really help. According to Atuat, Rangi was ovulating and Kyoshi was not. This meant she was mostly here for moral support. Which was worse in the avatar’s opinion. Much, much worse.

Eito was considerate. He had with him a jar of natural oils, to help him move inside her more easily. He did not touch Rangi more than absolutely necessary. Kyoshi sat with her wife’s head in her lap, stroking her hair with one hand, and suffering a death grip from her in the other. It wasn’t pleasant for any one of them, but they all endured. 

Hei-Ran had informed Kyoshi of the duties expected of her as a wife during this time, and the tall woman fulfilled them to the best of her ability. She pampered her spouse the entire morning after. And the morning after that, and after that until Rangi got so tired of being spoiled that she threatened to make rotisserie mountain oaf with a side of rock-brain stew if she got breakfast in bed one more time.

Then it was Kyoshi’s turn, and the process was well known to them by that point. The tall woman was so nervous that Rangi could hardly get her to reach a rather pathetic climax, “You don’t have to do this, you know.” Her wife whispered, “If you want out of this, tell me, and I’ll send him back to the Fire Nation tonight.” There was no uncertainty. Contract or no, he’d be sailing out of the port in an hour if Kyoshi wished for it.

“No, I want this. The children, I mean.” She flopped back on the pillows and covered her eyes with her forearm. It was just another part of the experience; childbirth would be torture, pregnancy would be a pain, why should conception be a fun event?

“Kyoshi, if you’re scared of this, you can tell me.” Rangi pulled her tall girl’s arm from her face so she could look her in the eyes. This was weird for Kyoshi, the Fire National knew that. It was weird for her as well, she just had since adolescence to prepare for the ordeal.

“I’m not scared. I have my strong hero to protect me.”

“And don’t you forget it.” Rangi leaned over her wife and gave her a hard kiss, and another, “Are you going to tell me what’s wrong, then?”

“It feels like I’m being unfaithful, okay?” she growled a little, embarrassed at the ridiculous notion of being unfaithful when Rangi had already been through this and still held herself up with honor, “I know it’s stupid.”

“Yeah, it is. Rocks-for-brains.” She grabbed Kyoshi’s hand and gave it a squeeze, “You’re not sneaking into a brothel behind my back. I’m right here with you. He is nothing more to us than a means to an end. You are mine now, you’ll be mine while he’s with you, and the child you have will be mine. Just like I am yours, and my child will be yours. Always.”

“For as long as you live?”

“For as long as I live.”

Eito had to wait another hour. Time enough for another orgasm, pillow talk, and a quick massage.

The Avatar was more relaxed now, laying in her wife’s lap. She focused solely on her glowing girl as she heard him approach. This was not an act of adultery, she reminded herself. Rangi was right here, holding her hand and moving a few stray hairs out of her face. They were in this together.

It actually wasn’t as bad as Kyoshi thought. It felt...nice...to have him inside her. She supposed it was just Rangi keeping her at ease. She bit her tongue as not to moan in front of a stranger, or rather _because_ of someone who wasn’t her wife. She wasn’t supposed to enjoy this; ‘an unpleasant experience for everyone’, that’s what it was designed to be. But it wasn’t at all unpleasant to be filled up as the love of her life held her. Her whole body began to convulse, she reached her peak and went flying off the edge. She looked at Rangi to gage her reaction and only saw heartbreak, despair, and **betrayal**. 

The next morning, Rangi was a dutiful wife. She ran a bath, but didn’t join her. She made sure there was a healthy breakfast, but didn’t scold her about her bad eating habits, “If you are pregnant, you’ll need to eat more to insure the proper growth.” She said simply, gobbling down her breakfast without another word until she was finished. The Avatar hadn’t managed to swallow a bite, “Don’t starve our baby.” She grunted as she stormed out of the room. Kyoshi was no longer worth the effort of nagging.

She ate only because there might be another life at stake.

Rangi still went with her to Eito’s room that night. Still warmed her up, but the actions were now rather stiff and cold. She still held her hand, but offered rather generic comments of ‘you’re doing fine’ and the like. This was the experience in Kyoshi’s nerve-driven nightmares.

Weeks like this. Rangi kept her word. She was every bit the dutiful wife, however, she was not a very loving one. She spoke rarely, touched Kyoshi only when required, and kissed her never. The resident firebender’s treatment of the visiting man turned sour, always glaring at him with a look that even he thought would surely set him ablaze.

Kyoshi was worried. She’d been in trouble with her wife before, but this is the longest Rangi ever stayed mad at her, and the woman never did anything to show that she still cared outside of what was expected of her by the honor-bound duties of a wife.

More than once, Kyoshi caught Rangi crying alone. She had no words to comfort her, she had no excuse. Any words of love and loyalty she practiced felt hollow. Apologies never sounded sincere enough. She wasn’t supposed to enjoy him. She hadn’t meant to.

One day, after both women were confirmed pregnant and Eito went onto marriage and fortune, Rangi came to her as she moped in the bath. The firebender bowed like a servant, and kept her gaze to the floor,

“It is common practice for world leaders and wealthy nobles to have paramours. No one would challenge the Avatar’s right to have them as well.” If anyone were to see Kyoshi’s reaction to that, it would’ve looked like a glass figurine of Avatar Kyoshi had a five-ton boulder sent through its head, shattering it before a strong wind scattered the fragments.

“What?!” Kyoshi roared, jumping out of the tub, and stomping up to her wife, “You ignore me for weeks and then you have the nerve to come in here and say that?!”

“I’ve always known you’re attracted to men and women.” Rangi kept her eyes lowered, and her voice soft. She would not allow herself to cry, “It was wrong of me to deny you that part of yourself for so long.”

“No, deny me! Please!” Kyoshi face palmed as Rangi looked her over curiously, “What I mean is, I’ve never felt like I was denied anything with you. I don’t want concubines; I don’t want to be shared. I want you to be greedy and horde me all to yourself. I like just us.”

“You liked it when it wasn’t.”

“Only once! And only because of you! If you hadn’t been there being the best wife in the world, I never would’ve gotten through it!” she was angry, enraged, that Rangi would pass her off to other people and even pretend to be okay with it. Where was that woman who fought two dozen Agni Kai’s to keep would-be suitors away from her lover? “I’m your wife! Treat me like it!”

She stormed out and only realized she forgot her robe when she went to take off the missing fabric in the safety of her room.

Night fell and the door creaked open. Kyoshi ignored the familiar footsteps and faced the window with determination. There was a clank of a tray being set on the bedside table.

“You didn’t eat supper, you giant mountain oaf.” Kyoshi said nothing of Rangi’s attempt at peace, still so angry with her. The mattress shifted as her wife sat beside on the edge of the bed, “I just wanted you to be satisfied.”

“You’re doing a horrible job lately.” She grunted, still staring out of the window.

“I got jealous, okay? I knew it wasn’t going to be easy, but I didn’t think I’d have to watch- that- happen.”

“I didn’t want that to happen.” The mountain of a woman said pitifully.

“I believe you, Kyoshi. But it happened.”

“So, because I can’t control my body, you decide to pass me around like some high-priced ostrich horse sire?”

“I’m sorry. That’s not how I meant it.” She pinched the bridge of her nose and leaped up to pace the room, sharing her emotions at the exact same time she finally faced them, “I just- look it was self-pity, okay? I admit it. I was jealous and I pushed you away for something you couldn’t control.”

“Yeah, you did.”

“And I’ll never forgive myself for it.” She stopped, and looked Kyoshi right in the eye, before decided she didn’t deserve the privilege and cast her gaze down.

“I will.” This made Rangi perk up; Kyoshi looked at her with a glare, “Eventually. Right now, I’m still really, **_really_** , angry with you.” Her wife took this as her cue to leave,

“Okay.” She dared to lean over and kiss Kyoshi’s forehead, “Eat your supper, rocks-for-brains. I don’t want my child coming to the world sickly because their mother didn’t know how to feed herself properly.”

* * *

The rooms were clean now, and it was time for the mothers to face the music. They sat with the children on cushions in front of the fireplace, each with a little cup of tea. They had decided it was best if Rangi did most of the talking, since Kyoshi put her foot in her mouth far too often. 

“When we call you twins, it’s more of a nickname.” They children had been born extraordinarily close together, only twenty hours apart. It was a joke among their family and friends that they had twins separately, and it stuck.

“So, we’re not twins?” The world just turned upside down for Koko, and she didn’t know how to process it.

“Twins are born at the same time to one mother. You two were born on the same day.” Rangi instructed gently, “But I had you, Ryo. And this big tree over here had you, Koko.” No matter how serious the topic, the two little hellions giggled over their mom calling Mamma funny names.

“But that doesn’t mean you two have different mothers, just that different mothers gave...birth to you?” That confused even Kyoshi, and she was the one saying it! Rangi bit her tongue, she would not call her wife an oaf or rocks-for-brains in front of the children.

“What she means is, we’re both your mothers. Now if I had both of you, you would be twins.”

“What if Mamma had both of us?”

“Then you would be twins. But since I had one, and Kyoshi had one. You’re really just brother and sister.”

“But you can still call yourselves twins, okay? You can tell your friends it’s a nickname because you were born on the same day.” They were twins in every way it really counted anyway. If Kelsang could be her father, if two women could be mothers, then two half-siblings could be twins.

“Do you understand?” They nodded, and anyone could tell that they didn’t completely understand. They wouldn’t for a few more years, and there would be many questions on the subject between now and then.

“The two of us could not make babies by ourselves, so we asked a man to help us out. He gave us the missing part we needed so we could have you. That makes him your biological father.”

“That’s not the same as a dad, okay?”

“Right. There’s a big difference between a biological father and a regular father.”

“We don’t have one of those.” Koko pointed out, suddenly aware of that fact and now wondering why that was.

“What’s the difference?” Ryo was ever the curious one, he would be the one who made them want to pull their hair out with all his questions.

“A biological father is a man who helps make you. A father is a man who takes care of you.” Rangi was doing well in this conversation. Kyoshi had to wonder if she’d been in the children’s spot at one time. Not with her own parents, obviously, but maybe another family member?

“Why don’t we have one?”

“Because you have two moms instead.”

“All the other kids have one.” Koko made clear, feeling like the universe had shortchanged them somehow.

“They only have one mom.” Rangi watched the girl consider this trade and deemed it to be fair.

“Can we get one?” Ryo on the other hand, didn’t come to the same conclusion. Why shouldn’t they have a father along with two mothers? What rule was there that said they couldn’t?

“No!” they both said this a little too aggressively, “No.” Rangi said gently, “You don’t need a father; besides, you have plenty of uncles.”

“Do you really want another adult coming around here, giving you more chores to do?” Kyoshi asked with a little grin. Both children gave over-exaggerated reactions, Koko making gagging motions and Ryo waved his arms around in front of his face. Rangi’s eyes narrowed at her wife, but Kyoshi just shrugged. It worked, didn’t it?

“Now come along, it’s time for training.”

The children groaned.

So did Kyoshi.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shout out to @Light_Thistle 😍😁😉, who came up with the suggestion artificial insemination! I didn't use it this chapter, but three guesses what the next one will be 😉


	3. Artificial Insemination

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A sort of AU to the Natural Insemination chapter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shoutout Time. First to the people who suggested this theory, **Light_Thistle** and **Catdora!** Good theory, it was fun to write!
> 
> Second, to **hclfgoddess** and **closettoast** , who both let me bounce my stupid ideas off them. The first part with Atuat, that's pretty much all **closettoast** , I couldn't even start the chapter until they made the suggestion;

** Day 9,234 in the Era of Kyoshi **

They had decided it was time to start a family, and Kyoshi couldn’t be more excited. At least for the end results. The whole process, and she did mean **whole** process, would be a tedious trial of patience. The process to even start the process had already been a chore. Though nearly everything involved with the Fire Nation was.

There was a ‘proper way’ to do everything in that nation, including having children. For noble couples such as themselves, it meant finding a ‘worthy’ male courtesan to impregnate one or both women. But her position as The Avatar always made things more difficult, and the difficult part was “no concubine could be worthy of The Avatar”. And so Hei-Ran was three months into the search for the perfect sire for her grandchildren.

Every man tried to prove to be the perfect specimen, the best firebender; they provided documentation of their ancestry all the way back to the Sun Warriors. There were Agni Kai’s; lots and lots of Agni Kai’s. After so long with no clear victor, or even a short list, Kyoshi could tell that her mother-in-law was drowning in a sea of noblemen who applied for the job. So late one night - after a drink of liquid courage - she, her wife, and her companions quietly broke into the storeroom where the letters (and their corresponding documentation) were being stockpiled. There were perks to being associated with daofei.

A letter suddenly burst into flames, making Kyoshi and Jinpa jump out of their skins. The airbender hit his head on the ceiling before falling back to the ground with a light thud. “Why did this man even apply?” Rangi growled, “He’s seventy-three years old.”

“Well you have to admire his moxie.” Atuat, one of only two companions who lasted a full hour of sorting with the help of a few more drinks, and a few more after that, giggled hysterically.

“I do not.”

“Well, this man-”Jinpa had returned to his seat without fuss, or acknowledgement of pain, “is from a rival clan. I assume he is instantly rejected?” The firebender sent a small spark to light that one ablaze as well.

“I will endure a man to have children,” her look softened as she glanced over at her wife, “but no rivals. No elders either. Or boys; if you find anyone who’s just barely of age, discard his submission.”

“I don’t see why you should have to get under a man, anyway.” At least this was the translation, Atuat had begun to slur and forget words. “What’s waterbending for, if not doing whatever we want?”

“I don’t think waterbending can make children, Atuat.” Kyoshi cut her off, bending the alcohol out of her cup, and water into it, ignoring the _‘how would you know, I’m better at it than you’_ grumble from her healing sifu. “It is a nice thought, though.” She said wishfully. Rangi nodded in agreement, rubbing her temples,

“If only it were so easy.” She almost allowed herself to slip into that dream where this necessary experience wasn’t required at all, but this was impossible and therefore not worthy of Rangi’s time, “That’s nothing more than a daydream, we need to focus on what’s real.”

“I don’t know about that,” Kyoshi smiled, “I used to daydream about you all the time; those came true.” Her smile grew as Rangi’s blush reached her ears, but as usual she gave as good as she got,

“Used to?” There was a challenge in her pitch and her smirk. Kyoshi could either imply that the love of her life no longer interested her and sleep alone for an undetermined amount of time, or admit openly that she still had a few moist dreams about Rangi when she was out of reach. It was the Avatar’s turn to blush, and she rubbed the back of her head,

“No, I still do. All the time, actually.” The admission made Atuat cackle, she lifted her drink in a one-sided toast to the younger women and took another long swig. Her mind clearly went to the steamier types of daydreams, which to be fair most of Kyoshi’s dreams involving Rangi landed in that category. It also made Jinpa blush, the red color taking over his face was a nice contrast for his blue arrow; for a monk, his mind did find itself in the gutter a lot.

“It’s tragic, though, right?” again, a translation from Atuat, the drink from the toast may have not had alcohol, but it wasn’t helping her speech any, “Waterbending can help. A lot. I could bend babies out of you. Into you. You know what I mean.”

“No, I really don’t.” There was a horrible mental image of an infant being bent and misshapen enough to be squeezed into the body; it would be filling her nightmares later.

“No, I could do it. I bend it out of him and put it into you two!” She slammed her fist against the table, losing her balance in doing so and falling over. She had no perception of the change of position and shouted, “I’ll impregnate the Avatar! All these men can go mount a goatdog!”

“Shh!” Rangi hissed, all this shouting would wake up her mother, and then she’d be in so much trouble. She came over, not to help Kyoshi and Jinpa get her off the floor, but to cover the waterbender’s mouth before she got them caught.

“Perhaps I should take her to bed.” Too late. The three nearly sober people jumped away from the intoxicated woman, leaving her to topple over yet again. Poor Jinpa hit his head on the ceiling once more while Kyoshi and Rangi went to different sides of the storeroom. The taller woman tried to blend into the parchment stacks as Rangi stood at attention; neither dared to look the matriarch in the eye. “We will discuss this in the morning, young ladies. You two clean this mess. Brother Jinpa, you will help me with Atuat.”

Hei-Ran’s need to deal with her irritating friend had bought the couple more time, or left them with time to stew in fear of the punishment to come, depending on one’s outlook on bad situations. They began picking up the documents and putting them back in place without a word until the sound of flames igniting drove Kyoshi to look over.

“I will not tolerate _him_.” Rangi growled, having seen the name of the Fire Lord’s half-brother in the pile and had the sudden urge to burn one more thing.

“Wouldn’t it be wonderful if Atuat could help us?”

“She is drunk, Kyoshi.” While the idea was indeed enticing, Rangi saw no reason to entertain it. It was a poisonous fruit, bright and pretty and begging her to come closer, _‘put your trust in me, I am pleasant and no harm could come from a small taste’_ , only to leave her choking and helpless. Raising her hopes, only to have them dashed by the harsh realism would be worse than facing the bitter reality from the start.

“I know. But what if it is possible?”

“It’s not.” They had talked about this many times. They agreed it was the best course of action. Rangi was a noble, it was her duty as a member of clan Sei'naka to carry on her line. It was Kyoshi’s duty as a wife to support her, and it was her choice to do this with her.

But that didn’t mean either had to like the methods, it was just ‘the reality’. Sometimes, in her private thoughts, Kyoshi wished Rangi weren’t noble. That way they could be an integral part of the Fire Nation care system by adopting two children, which was expected of any peasant couple who could not procreate.

Then she remembered that Rangi would not be the Rangi she knew if she had been raised under different circumstances. Just look at the avatars, they were the same person, yet experiences made each life unique. Rangi was great just the way she was. And honestly, there was a big part of Kyoshi that was very excited to have a little version of her wife running around, pestering all the passersby’s as they went sprinting across the estate. And hopefully they’d have her bronze eyes and have a blush that goes all the way to their ears, too. And her smile. And her strength. In fact, there wasn’t a whole lot about Rangi that she didn’t want to see in a cute toddler, maybe not her temper. One hotheaded firebender was enough.

Rangi wanted a little Kyoshi. She talked about having a tall child roaming around the house, hardworking, sweet, selfless, and loyal with a big dumb grin and talent for singing. Hopefully, they would not be the self-doubting pushover Kyoshi had been in her younger days, though Rangi was not too worried about that, vowing already to make their children feel loved and deserving.

“Did you even hear me, Kyoshi?” Rangi put her hands on her hips and glared at her wife. A lecture about not letting her inner thoughts dull her senses to her surroundings was just a breath away.

“No.” There was no point in lying, she wasn’t good at it and it would only anger her wife further. “Please don’t make me do more stance training.”

“Kyoshi, she was just drunk.”

“I know. But what if she was spurting off drunken honesty?”

“What if she wasn’t?”

“I think it’s worth considering. Unless you do want to have a man in our bed.”

“Of course I don’t!” sparks shot out of her mouth, threatening to set fire to the whole room. She took a breath to calm down, that comment of the oaf’s had been said out of frustration. It had already been months, and they hadn’t even begun physically trying for the babies yet. Tempers were starting to flair.

Rangi got in Kyoshi’s space and looked down on her even from the lower angle. A finger drove right into her wife’s chest. Her voice was even, but firm to the point of no contesting, “Don’t you **_ever_** accuse me of that again. I just don’t want to get our hopes up then find out she was just speaking drunken nonsense. ”

“I’m sorry.” Kyoshi spoke solemnly and looked to the floor in shame, that was totally out of line. Rangi just wanted a family. A family with her, and she was willing to do anything to make that happen. “I know that. And I’ll never say it again. I just don’t think we should ignore a chance of doing this a better way because it seems impossible.”

“Fine, Kyoshi.” She huffed, moving her hand so it could be lifted into the air in a ‘I give up’ gesture.

“What?”

“I’ll play this little game. We will ask her when she’s sober. If she still thinks that she can put a baby into us, we’ll hear her out. If not, you won’t let it send you into a spiral to prove her wrong.” She held out her hand, not a great stretch given the little distance between the two, “Agreed?”

“Agreed.” Kyoshi smiled, shaking the hand, and then snatching it up to kiss it.

The next morning found them doing hot-squats in the courtyard for everyone to see. Hei-Ran saw fit to blame only her daughter and daughter-in-law for the trouble, and the Flying Opera Company was taking full advantage. They sat down with breakfast and heckled the women as they did their exercises. Kyoshi should’ve put on her makeup, she could not contain the blushed caused by the humiliation. Rangi didn’t blush, nor react to the teasing of her companions. She looked straight forward with a hard, blank face. She had to be plotting revenge. 

After they endured all the humiliation they could take, Hei-Ran lectured them about their interference. This was her task, her duty, as a mother to find the perfect candidate for them. It was not their place to interfere. She may be disgraced, but she was still Rangi’s mother, and she would not tolerate such disregard for the only position of honor she had left. Wong and Kirima had wisely shut their mouths to avoid Hei-Ran’s wrath. Kyoshi preferred their heckling.

And after that rather harrowing experience, Rangi kept her word. She tracked down the waterbender with her wife on her tail, and knowing Kyoshi, her ass was being stared at the whole time. Kyoshi only thought she was being sly, but she often forgot her size; those long legs of hers made it nearly impossible to fall behind. 

“I have a friend in the South that’s working on baby bending a grandchild.” Atuat said somberly, nursing a hangover, “We could pop in and bend one in you two.”

** Day 9,250 in the Era of Kyoshi **

“This is my friend, Yuka.” Atuat introduced a short and stout older water tribe woman, “And this is Uki, her official assistant and unofficial daughter-in-law.”

“Atuat!”

“Oh, sorry.” Atuat said dramatically before dropping the familiar attitude. She stood straight with eyes cast down and hands held in front of her. A formal sound was in her voice as she continued, “Yuka’s daughter, Aput, has rejected marriage to focus on her calling as a teacher. She lives with a roommate Uki, who moved her suddenly from the Northern Tribe to “expand her family’s bloodline to the south” – No I did **not** help her run away from an arrange marriage to a polar bear dog’s fuzzy asshole of a male, then introduce her to another lovely young lady who also falls for feminine charms in hopes that they would find domestic bliss. How dare you suggest such a thing?!-“

Kyoshi and Rangi stared blankly, minds still needing a minute to process the information. The Water Tribe women were too stunned to move.

“So anyway, her roommate, WINK-.”

“Why did you just say the word, ‘wink’?”

“Her “ROOMMATE” has also rejected marriage for the noble art of healing. Now Aput and Uki would like to have a young “Student” of their very own to carry on their teachings. But the problem is that they have both went to the spiritual center and took **_vows_** ‘to be single, **_together’_**. Hint, hint. So now they have a puzzle, how to get a “Student” of their own without violating the vows of unaccompanied togetherness they took in front of the spirits? You get my meaning?”

“I think the whole tribe gets it.” Yuka seethed, looking around to make sure no one had come into the healing hut unnoticed and overheard the whole story.

“Oh, calm down.” Atuat waved her off, and pointed to the abnormally tall woman, “She’s a little hard to recognize without the makeup, but this is Avatar Kyoshi. And this is her out-and-proud _wife_ , Rangi.”

“Atuat, I don’t have time to play.” Yuki said tiredly.

“Nice try, Sifu, but Avatar Kyoshi married a Firebender Captain.” Uki rolled her eyes with a gentle smile, patiently dealing with her old healing teacher like she would deal with a senile grandmother.

Rangi somehow managed to stand straighter, a feat thought to be impossible. It was typical of the Water Tribesmen, and many Earth Citizens, to not believe their ears at the news. A military officer, surely, he must be a strapping young man to catch the Avatar’s attention; a lady Captain never even crossed their minds. And even if there were such a thing as a female officer, surely the Avatar wouldn’t waste her time with a woman when she could have any man in the four nations that she wanted. Rangi earned her rank, she earned Kyoshi’s love, and their disbelief insulted her.

“I am Rangi of Clan Sei'naka. Captain of The Fire Army. Wife and bodyguard to Avatar Kyoshi.” She said proudly. Kyoshi grinned smugly, as if to say, ‘that’s **my** wife!’.

The Southerners looked for any crack of a smile, a giggle, something to indicate this was just some grand joke Atuat had put them up to. They found nothing. To dispel any doubt, Kyoshi bent a calm breeze around the room, and pulled water up from a nearby basin, molding it into various shapes.

“Forgive us, Avatar Kyoshi. What brings you to my humble residence?” Yuki said with a low bow.

“I-“

“She and her wife would like two ‘students’ of their own. And while the spirits of the Fire Nation aren’t as prudish as the ones down here, they’d like to skip the part where they would have to bed a man. I thought you could help them out.”

“Yeah.” Kyoshi really wished she’d donned her makeup to hide the blush, her wife had her arms crossed, sneering at Atuat’s lack of tact.

“I’m sorry.” Uki frowned sadly, the news hurting her personally much more than disappointing the Avatar, “We haven’t made much progress.”

“What’s the issue?”

“The problem is that we can’t bend liquid that is encased by skin. Once the sperm passes into the body, it becomes unbendable before it even reaches the cervix.”

“We had thought we could bend it further by putting more force behind the initial push, but when we tested the process with our declining artic seal population, we punctured the lining of the animal’s uterus.” The medical explanation caused every woman in the room to cringe, picturing the same results on themselves no doubt.

“I’m sorry, Kyoshi. But this isn’t a practical option.” Rangi tried to let her wife down easy. Kyoshi saw the two Southerners fighting back tears of frustration and jabbed her with her elbow. The firebender looked at the two and suddenly felt like an ass, “But I’m sure you’ll figure something out eventually.”

“Perhaps the Avatar could be of help?” Yuki asked with a last little glimmer of hope,

“If you want a battering ram, ask Kyoshi. If you want a stitching needle, ask me.” Atuat huffed, her pride could not withstand they blow of being overshadowed by any lesser healer, even the Avatar herself.

“But I’ll help in any way I can.”

** Day 9,813 in the Era of Kyoshi **

The answer hadn’t come easy. There were so many variations tested; Distance the sperm needed to travel, speed, force, temperature, angle. Finding the right combination of variables was proving to be impossible. Test after test failed. This had taken so much longer than anyone had planned. For the first few months, The Avatar’s wife kept her pessimistic feelings to herself, but that was before Hei-Ran had settled on a man. Then she started to get a bit antsy, but the trials (now tested first with organs from the butcher) had just – after over a year and a half since Atuat started- been deemed safe for actually testing.

Aput and her wife had taken up residence in the rebuilt Avatar mansion, where Kyoshi was slowly building up and training a proper staff from the forgotten undesirables of the world. They would get honest work, and while the Avatar may not have the finest feasts nor the most superb gardens, she had good food and the place didn’t look like it’d been abandoned. Many of the servants had children, having a temporary teacher and a healer on staff would be good for them. At the spidersnail’s pace this all was going, they were beginning to wonder if the two would ever get to go home.

“We’re officially paying Eito’s clan for damages.” Rangi laid a letter across Kyoshi’s desk one day, “It’s been over a year, and we have not been even trying to make use of him.” She read over the letter; it said they’d wasted their time and cost his clan a very profitable marriage, and broke the contract in the process.

“That’s a lot of money.” Had she really signed off on an amount that could buy a small island?

“Yes, and our clan has passed the bill to us. Rightfully so.” Rangi sneered at Kyoshi, at herself, at the very dumb idea they’d all agreed to commit to. She paced behind her wife as she reread the letter and deemed it to be in their rights to push for payment.

“Rangi, it’s getting hot in here.” The room had been zapped of any moister, making the Avatar suddenly thirsty.

“Good.”

“I’ll pay the fine, okay? There’s no reason to be upset.”

“There’s no reason? Kyoshi has it occurred to you that we could already be playing with our children if we weren’t wasting time with this hairbrained scheme?”

“I know.”

“Do you?” She asked heatedly, coming back to Kyoshi’s side, and staring down at her. “I know you want this to work, I do too. But look how long it’s taken them just to make the injection safe. How much longer do you think it will take them to do it correctly? By the time they have the technique perfected, we might be too old to even have children.”

Long arms grabbed the firebender, pulling her down into her wife’s lap, “Okay, Rangi.”

“Okay?”

“If neither of us are pregnant by the end of the year, we’ll do this the traditional way.”

“I have your word?”

“I give you my word.” She placed a kiss on Rangi’s scalp and pulled her close, “Maybe we should take a little vacation; just me and my fearless hero.”

“Flattery will get you nowhere.” Maybe not, but it was a start. There was so much Avatar work to do, but her wife needed a break. She needed a break as well, if she were being honest, but she was more concerned about the captain right now. She needed to relax, as much as was possible for her, anyway.

“You always have to be difficult.” She hummed, toying with strands of hair that always managed to get loose from Rangi’s topknot.

“That’s a laugh, coming from my giant walking headache.”

“You can try to insult me all you like, but that is my ultimate objective. I have no higher purpose than to drive you insane.”

“You jerk!” Rangi pulled away and punched her in the shoulder as she laughed, “That’s a fine thing for The Avatar to say!”

“That’s more of a side gig.” Her trademark grin took over her face. The smaller woman in her lap covered her face with her hands to feign anger and hide amusement.

“You are such an oaf.”

“But I’m your oaf. And as such I’d like you to accompany me to the Misty Palms Oasis. Just for a few days; I think we both need to unwind.”

“You may be right.”

“I am right? Did anyone else hear that? I think my past lives are whispering to me again.”

“Oh, I’m sure you hear voices, alright. Dummy.”

“And yet you still proposed.”

** Day 9,924 in the Era of Kyoshi **

“Kyoshi!” Rangi burst into their room and tackled her wife and shook her before she could even open her eyes. She couldn’t wait for the sun to rise to get Atuat’s verdict, and she wasn’t about to wait until it was up to share the news “It worked!”

“What worked?” Kyoshi groaned, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes.

“I impregnated the Avatar’s wife!” a very arrogant voice called from down the hall; no need to guess who that belonged to.

“You’re pregnant?!” Suddenly adrenaline pumped through Kyoshi and she was wide awake, kissing her wife repeatedly, “We’re having a baby!”

** Day 11,784 in the Era of Kyoshi **

There was a soft, and yet large thud just outside Kyoshi’s bedroom window. A grin appeared on her face before she even turned around. Rangi was finally home. There was some squabble over inheritance from the death of some distant cousin her wife had never even met, and she had to go withdraw her claim in person and leave the rest of the clan to fight over what they wanted.

She smiled but shushed her wife just as she looked like she would climb through the window. It was the children’s nap time, and the little hellions would be cranky later no matter how excited they’d be to see their mother now. No, they would stay on their sleep schedule, their mother would be a surprise they could wake up to.

Rangi was stealthy as she climbed into their room, their baby and little man sleeping peacefully for now. She gave her tall girl a kiss, before whispering a quiet ‘hello’ and a promise to greet her properly later; leaving Kyoshi red-faced as she laid down and pulled the nine-month-old girl to her chest. Koko’s hands instinctively clung to Rangi’s tunic in her sleep.

Kyoshi took in the heart-warming sight for a moment before joining the rest of her family, curling up on the edge of the bed where their four-year-old boy, Ryo had sprawled out, taking twice the room any person should. Her flame looked at her sternly, mouthing ‘go to sleep, doofus’.

Apparently, it was the Avatar’s nap time, too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay. I'm going to be honest. I think this solution would be more realistic for Korrasami than for Rangshi, given the time period Kyoshi and Rangi live in. (and I think I could write a multiple page essay with details from the shows and comics to support my position.) 
> 
> That being said, I realized this is supposed to be for fun and what harm could come from indulging a little fantastical fluff to offset gritty realism?


	4. Trans Rangi

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Special thanks to **closettoast** for the suggestion!

** Day 5,767 in the Era of Yun **

Hei-Ran was meditating with Kelsang and Jianzhu when the sound of footsteps on the roof startled them all. Two-thirds of the team settled down a split second after the noise came, placing its source before even opening their eyes; Jianzhu leaped to his feet, ready to stop an assassin. Kelsang laughed at him. Hei-Ran blushed. _(In later years, Hei-Ran would look to this moment as the first subtle sign of Jianzhu’s betrayal. If she and Kelsang were still as close to his heart as he claimed, he would’ve already been aware of her daughter’s antics, and know that Kyoshi was the motivation behind them.)_

“I see Rangi is doing her flamingo-crane dance again.” Kelsang chuckled warmly. He always laughed and likened the young bodyguard’s behavior to a bird trying to attract a mate. Hei-Ran hated to admit that she could see the resemblance. The mother groaned as she looked out the window to see her lovestruck daughter jump off the roof and roll to the ground, never breaking her pace.

“Honestly, there must be more dignified ways to impress the girl.”

“She is running across rooftops to impress a girl?” The earthbender questioned disbelievingly. How could the daughter of Hei-Ran be anything but a topnotch bodyguard at all times?

“You haven’t heard?” The tall man asked with a smirk, “Hei-Ran and I will be in-laws soon.”

“Perhaps, or it could just be a lack of options.” Though even she knew she was lying to herself. Rangi came from a world where everyone watched, judged, and schemed. Then she met Kyoshi, a girl who was dutiful and kind without any ulterior motive; the exact opposite of anyone she’d ever known. Rangi would fall over herself to gain the tall girl’s favor, even if there were a thousand other beautiful girls around to impress. “Kyoshi is the only girl Rangi’s age in the vicinity.”

“I don’t care why this happens. I just want it to stop. It’s unprofessional and it could distract Avatar Yun.” _(Hei-Ran would scream at her younger self “He only cares for his image and having the Avatar under his control! Nothing else matters to him! Why can’t you see that?!”)_

“Oh, let them be young while they still have a chance, you old stick-in-the-mud.” The airbender waved him off, “We had our chance before we went gallivanting around.”

“We did not serve the Avatar at fifteen.”

“You can’t expect children to always behave like adults, Jianzhu. Teenagers will be teenagers. Why, when I was Rangi’s age and a boy caught my fancy, I would fly my bison up to his window at midnight and read beautifully-explicit poetry to him.”

“Don’t give Rangi any ideas. Please.” Hei-Ran ignored Jianzhu’s continuing disapproval, this was about Rangi and Kyoshi; Yun could occasionally not be at the center of something.

“Of course I won’t.” He seemed insulted that the firebender would even think he would. That put the woman at ease for one glorious second before Kelsang stroked his beard thoughtfully and added, “Though knowing my girl, if Rangi wanted to be invited into Kyoshi’s bed, she’d need only to show up at her door wearing her training clothes.”

“Excuse me?!” And here Hei-Ran had taken the notion that Kyoshi wasn’t that easy to sway given how much effort Rangi seemed to be putting into getting her attention.

“I’m sorry, but I’ve caught Kyoshi staring at an uncovered throat here, an exposed forearm there. She’s fifteen, and any amount of exposed muscle would be like honey to a bison.” Hei-Ran started to breathe steam, And Kelsang was quick to add, “But I won’t be telling Rangi that.”

“See that you don’t.”

“Trust me, I have no intentions of interfering in our daughters love lives unless they come to me for advice.”

“Pay heed to the advice you do give.” She warned, “I’m far too young to be a grandmother because your daughter can’t control her impulses.”

“Don’t worry, whenever they decide that they’re ready, Kyoshi is well informed. I’ve had a long talk with her about safe sex practices.”

“Kelsang!”

“What?” He seemed genuinely surprised and confused. “She is old enough to know.”

“But not old enough to participate!” She would throttle him if he weren’t an Air Nomad with different customs. They never told the temple children to wait for marriage, there was no marriage to wait for. _You love that person enough to stay loyal to them-and-only-them for the rest of your life? Great, take private vows and follow them! You love these several people? That’s great, too!_ . But Rangi was not of the Air Nomads, Hei-Ran wouldn’t stand for such a disregard for her proud nation’s customs. 

“How old were you when you first experienced the pleasures of flesh, hmm?” he challenged her, already knowing the answer thanks to a drunken ‘team-building’ exercise their Avatar had put them through; which knowing Kuruk was really just a way to assess whether she would be easy-enough prey, “Were you a day older than Rangi?”

“....No.” steam streamed into the room with her answer.

“And was your partner physically able to impregnate you?”

“Yes...” she seethed through clenched teeth. She had been young, in love, stupid, and incredibly lucky not to be forced into a marriage to cover an unplanned pregnancy.

“Exactly why it was important to speak with Kyoshi about it.” He hesitated a little, “Now I know it’s not my place to ask, but on behalf of my daughter; do you plan to talk to Rangi about this?”

“Rangi is not as foolish as I was.” Hei-Ran drilled the lesson into Rangi’s head mercilessly since she was a young child, “She will not touch your daughter before marriage. You don’t need to worry about premature children.”

“Okay. But if we accidently share a grandchild, you have to look me in the eyes and say ‘Kelsang, you were right, and I was wrong’.” He held out a hand, ready to strike a one-sided bet.

“Fine.” She shook it firmly, “Because it will never happen.”

** Day 9,198 in the Era of Kyoshi  **

Kyoshi was panicking, finding herself in a predicament with only herself to blame. There had only been one time - _one_ \- that she hadn’t shown restraint (Kelsang was right, it only took one lapse in judgment, didn’t it?). Oh, she could blame Rangi and her stupid, sweaty, incredibly sexy workout routine with her stupid, muscle revealing, incredibly sexy workout top; but it would be a lie. She lied to herself enough already, starting on that day _‘yes, it is a good time in the month to drag Rangi to bed. And even **if** it **isn’t** , I can just tell her to pull out. No problem’_. Except she hadn’t. She did the opposite in fact, begging her girlfriend not to pull away from her. And Rangi, trusting her to know if it was safe, did as her lover commanded.

Then the lies were _‘my breasts are hurting because of the fall I took in training yesterday’, ‘I just ate some bad fish, that’s why I’m sick’, ‘I feel tired because of all the work we’ve been doing’,_ and the ever-so-popular _‘I missed my cycle because of stress’._ But she could no longer turn a blind eye. There was a little life inside her and she had to tell Rangi. She just didn’t know how.

“Kyoshi, where’s your mind at today?!” Rangi wasn’t too pleased with her student’s recent habit of slacking on her training. She was even more angry about Kyoshi playing The Avatar tile whenever Rangi tried to force her into more rigorous exercises, and when she used it to get out of a well-earned punishment. Right now, Rangi was absolutely furious that Kyoshi kept pulling rank on her. Telling her sifu the truth would get her out of training, but she couldn’t do that without fessing up to her girlfriend while she was at it.

“As your Avatar, I command-”

“No!” Rangi threw a flame at a nearby boulder, scorching it, “Stop doing that!” she grabbed Kyoshi and in one motion forced her to sit on the ground. Her hands moved to the taller woman’s shoulders, keeping her in place, “You think I don’t notice, but I do Kyoshi. You’re sick, your tired, your unfocused and unmotivated. What is wrong with you?”

Kyoshi didn’t dare to look her girlfriend in the eyes, choosing instead to glance down and to the right, putting her eyes directly on Rangi’s bicep; which ironically was what led to the situation that she found herself in right now.

“Kyoshi, talk to me. Please.” Rangi wasn’t angry, well, yes, she was angry. She was angry because she was scared of something, and she didn’t even know what it was; like hearing a roar in the dark and not seeing any danger all she could do was make noise and hope she sounded scarier than the monster.

“I made a mistake.” She finally managed to get words out, not the words she needed, but at least it was a start, “I’m sorry.”

“What did you do?” Rangi was soft-spoken, not wanting to spook her timid girl, but she needed to know what the hell was going on here. There were a million horrible possibilities crossing her mind at breakneck speed.

In a show of strength, Kyoshi got out of Rangi’s hold and latched onto her, hugging the firebender around the middle for all she was worth. The shorter woman drew a gasp but didn’t ask her to ease off. An answer would be worth the crushing pain.

“I’m...late.” She wasn’t ready to say the word; she couldn’t.

“For what?” They were right on time. The Western temple wasn’t expecting them until tomorrow.

Kyoshi looked at her with a mild glare, one filled with tears that begged Rangi to put the pieces of the puzzle together all by herself. So Rangi did. They weren’t late for their meeting, they weren’t late for a wedding or other special event. They had no court dates to appear at. They had no rehabilitated people overdue for a check-in. So, what else could her girlfriend be so upset to be late for? She mentally went through a wider list of things any person could be late for in any capacity until it clicked, a late menstruation cycle.

“A baby?” she asked, almost like she was not in her own body or she had retreated so far into herself that she could punch her unbeating heart to get it to start thumping again. Her girlfriend didn’t answer vocally, she nodded and burrowed into Rangi’s hair to hide, “Okay.”

“Okay?” Kyoshi backed away. What did ‘okay’ mean? Okay wasn’t an answer, not really. Rangi moved away as well and started to pace back and forth as she rubbed her chin thoughtfully,

“First, we have to delegate your Avatar duties. You’ll have to appoint representatives to deal with any dangerous situations. We have no reason to expect any violence at the temple, so you can go in person, but **_do not_** start any trouble.”

“Then,” Rangi continued, “we need to send letters to world leaders to explain the situation along with the names of your representatives. I’ll need to have extra security officers on standby for nonviolent events that you must attend. We’ll also need a physician on staff, one who specializes in pregnancy and infants.

Kyoshi missed everything from that point on. Rangi continued her plan of action, going into which room would be the nursery, and were they should stockpile the baby supplies. The pregnant woman found herself once again grateful to, and thankful for, Rangi. Preparedness carried the day, and thankfully at least one of them knew what to do.

Luckily, the Western Air Temple didn’t need her to do anything that required much thought, because Kyoshi was beyond distracted. Rangi still hadn’t told her what ‘okay’, meant. Her girlfriend had spent the rest of the day and half the night transposing her lists to paper and organizing them. The two soon-to-be parents really hadn’t had a chance to talk about it.

Now Kyoshi sat in a chair while Rangi stood behind her, brushing her hair rather mindlessly. There was an air of tension between the two women, both wanting to speak about the rhino elephant in the room, but neither knowing what to say.

“Kyoshi.” Rangi stared into space, the brushing slowly came to a stop, “We’re having a baby.” The woman said like she was just starting to make the connection between a pregnant girlfriend and a real baby coming into their world soon.

“Yeah...”

The firebender walked around to kneel in front of her lover with the truest, dumbest grin Kyoshi had ever seen on her. She pulled Kyoshi down into a kiss, “We’re having a baby.”

And Kyoshi knew right then that everything was going to be okay.

* * *

Hei-Ran entered the Avatar’s estate with her usual calm poise. Underneath that dignified exterior, there was a mad woman dancing like a fool; her grandchild was about to be born. The universe seemed to favor her this day, judging by the way many of the servants were neglecting their duties to stare anxiously towards the main house, Kyoshi was in labor a few days earlier than expected.

There were other servants who were cautiously gazing at the training grounds, seemingly curious about the happenings there, but too terrified to investigate. The former headmistress almost, almost, ignored it; deeming whatever the disturbance was to be irrelevant on this important day. But her ears heard firebending; impressive, rage-fueled firebending. Rangi.

The flames were white and coming out of her daughter’s fists and legs in long spurts; and then she took a long breath in and roared upward, shooting a flame into the sky. The mother worried for a moment; memories of damage she caused after Junsik died in her mind. Had the worst happened already? Were the servants waiting to see the body, or bodies, of those inside the birthing room? But she quickly pushed those worries aside. If anything had been that bad, Rangi would be inside and mourning; there was no force in the world that would be able to rip her away.

“Spirits child, why are you not with Kyoshi?” She said with obvious disapproval, dropping her travel bag by the stone wall and entering the arena. Rangi’s fire sizzled out to nothing, she stood straight with her fists clenched. She growled,

“I’ve been banished by Atuat until I calm down! I don’t need to calm the flameo down!” It was the first time Rangi ever cursed knowing that her mother stood in earshot. No matter how old her daughter was, Hei-Ran would not hesitate to berate her for any foul language. Today would be the exception.

“Clearly.” She said, both monotonal and sarcastic, “Would you like to explain why Atuat thinks you need to ‘calm the flameo down’?” The use of such a word flew right over the younger woman’s head. She was still stewing over some unknown thing.

“I just told her I don’t agree with the way she’s handling things.” She grunted with a frown, crossing her arms. Her eyes went to the ground as she stood firm, knowing on some level that she was being ridiculous but not ready to admit it yet.

“In my absence you’ve become the world’s greatest healer? Your wisdom outmatches even a woman who’s been a master in her field since before you were even born?”

In response Rangi roared her frustrations again, another blast of fire shooting upwards.

“Wonderful. Every Air Nomad in range will think you’re sending up a distress signal and come rushing in for a rescue.”

“Damn it, Mother, stop it!” the flames erupted out of her hands this time, “Kyoshi needs me in there!”

“She doesn’t need a strong and vicious protector right now. Right now, she needs you to be soft and patient, and most importantly, calm. It’s time to practice neutral jing. Don’t attack the healer, Atuat knows what she’s doing. And don’t retreat out here, get your emotions under control and go back where you’re needed.”

“Neutral jing is nothing but a bunch of hooey.”

“You have to accept there is nothing you can do but stay by her side and hold her hand. This is her battle, you’re just there to boost her morale.”

“That’s so-“ she out an exasperated scream, at least there was no fire this time. Hei-Ran put her hands on Rangi’s shoulders and made her look her in the eyes.

“I know it’s frustrating,” her girlfriend was undoubtably uncomfortable and in pain, and there was nothing Rangi could do. Sitting back and doing nothing was not her way. Hei-Ran held her daughter’s face as if the gentle touch would serve as a proper demonstration, “but Kyoshi needs this from you right now.”

“Alright. I’ll do what I must.”

“Good girl. I feel I should give you one more piece of advice before you go.” Hei-Ran continued without permission, “Kyoshi, like all birth mothers before and after her, will be in the greatest pain she’ll ever experience. She will be terrified, and she will be angry. So, from this point on -as unreasonable as it seems- everything is your fault.”

“Come again?” Rangi didn’t know what she had been expecting, perhaps some words that her father had said during her birth that made the experience slightly easier for her mother. Certainly, she wasn’t expecting that.

“I do not care who was originally to blame for this happy accident. From this moment until she has recovered, she will blame you for everything. The pain she’s going through, is your fault. The exhaustion she feels, is your fault. If she should crush your hand in her grip during the delivery, that is your fault should she see fit to blame you. If she destroys the estate again in pain-fueled rage, it will be your fault because you’re the one who put that child inside her. Do I make myself clear?”

Rangi glanced down at her hand and barely contained a gulp, “Yes, Mother.”

“Good girl. Now go back inside.” She shooed her daughter,

“Did you want to come in?”

She hadn’t planned on it, typically grandmothers in the Fire Nation prepared a heated room for the baby. But it really wasn’t the delicate and painstaking process everyone made it out to be, so much as it was a way to keep an overbearing mother hen out of the physician’s way. Hei-Ran could have a room set up and heated in twenty minutes while her grandchild was getting their first meal. She wasn’t going to pass up Rangi’s offer for the world.

The next several hours were a living nightmare. Rangi did her best, no one would deny that, Hei-Ran could tell her child felt useless. She rubbed Kyoshi’s stomach, endured all the promises of revenge, she didn’t listen to Kyoshi’s vow of ever-lasting hate, and didn’t mention the bruises her lover left on her hand. She coddled her girlfriend, and when the avatar cried and claimed she couldn’t do this, Rangi was quick to remind her that she could, and she would.

“Hello Koko.” Kyoshi said to the baby placed in her arms, slipping up and revealing the name to a room full of people before the official ceremony. No one chastised her for it. There were more important itty-bitty little things to focus on.

Hei-Ran met and cooed over her first grandchild. She congratulated Kyoshi on her hard work and took Atuat’s alcohol before a celebratory toast could be had. One last kiss to the baby’s head, then Hei-Ran went to set up a nursing room, not to be confused with a nursery, as Atuat taught Kyoshi the proper way to feed the girl.

She’d chose the meditation room. There were no frills when she was finished, the child would not remember it anyway so Hei-Ran never thought it necessary. One bed for the parents, one bed for the grandparent, a crib, blankets with their clan symbol, a few comfortable seats and the supplies for three days were all that was needed. She made the room warm with her inner flame and would keep it that way to the best of her ability while she helped the new mothers adjust to parenthood. If everything went smoothly, everyone would get to go to their own rooms on the fourth day, just in time for the naming ceremony.

Near the inner wall of the large room, a statue sat in a meditation pose though its eyes were open and a wide inviting smile sat on its face. The firebender pulled incense from her bag, lit it, and placed it in the holder that sat before the life-sized image of Kelsang. Even in cold stone, he still looked so warm and friendly; he seemed to beckon visitors to sit down with him for tea and meditation. The stone had every right to come to life and throttle her for past mistakes. Hei-Ran expected it every time she visited, in darker moments she even wished for the brutal penance, but he never moved a muscle. 

“Our unmarried daughters have given us a grandchild.” She both laughed and cried, her face in her hands as she did. Kelsang should be here, preforming whatever duties befitting a monk with a new child under his wing. He would be here, if only Hei-Ran had been the slightest bit observant, “Her name is Koko.”

She looked in the soft eyes of the stone. Surely if it would ever spring to life, now would be it. Unfortunately, her dreams were only dreams; Kelsang was gone and he would never come back. Hei-Ran continued to cry for her old friend, the future he’d been robbed of, and her own unknowing part in the theft. He would be celebrating right now, riding a little tornado so he could reach the heavens and shouting “I’m a granddad” so loud that the abbots at the Southern Temple would hear him.

“I would like to point out that your daughter, who you informed so well, is at fault.” She smiled through her tears, knowing the airbender would find the whole situation completely hilarious, “Still, that wasn’t one of the conditions of our agreement, so I am here to pay my debt.”

“Kelsang, you were right, and I was wrong.”


	5. The Shadow of Kyoshi: A Poem by Roku

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one might be a little angsty. But the next chapter won't be. I promise, we're ending on fluff!

DEATH first came to Kyoshi while she was still young.

When she took a sip a wine, poison had hit her tongue.

“This isn’t the path you want.” Said DEATH. “Let me take you away.” 

“My lover made me promise, so I will not fall to your sway.”

DEATH came again, one decade later.

The place where Kyoshi had stood, now bore a crater.

“Life gets no easier, let another bear the weight.”

“My wife made me take a vow, your offer is too late.”

When her gang was buried, DEATH came to her fast.

“Your family’s nearly gone now, you don’t want to be the last.”

A flame she roared at DEATH, burning the air,

“If I cross over, my wife will follow me there.”

Kyoshi’s wife died, DEATH came to collect.

Then it reeled back in pain, for its face she had decked.

“One hundred and three years you’ve lived, and now you’re all alone.”

“If I broke my oath now,” Kyoshi said sadly, “I could never atone.”

Ninety years later, DEATH tried once more.

Though chasing this Avatar was a tiring chore.

“Without your wife, you’re barely human, let your Era end.”

“To keep my word, a ghost I’ll be, into shadows I’ll gladly descend.”

DEATH came back to take her that very same night.

Though Kyoshi fought it off with all of her might.

“What pledge have you made, that keeps you from the grave?”

“To live until the world is quiet, and the avatar is no longer a slave.”

“Life is chaos.” DEATH said glumly, “ there is only stillness in sleep.”

“I know that, but I made a promise, so here I’ll stay and here I’ll weep.”

DEATH had no reply, and back to the darkness did it roam.

And the shadow of Kyoshi returned to her home.

DEATH then spoke with LIFE about the girl who lived so long.

It hoped its old adversary could show it where it had gone wrong.

“I’ve tried to take her many times,” said DEATH, “but the same thing I’m always told.”

 _“I’ll give her a child;”_ replied LIFE, _“she’ll not watch her little one grow old.”_

LIFE sent a man as Kyoshi sailed across the great water.

He mourned the wife lost to childbirth, and his newborn baby daughter.

In the dark she consoled him, stories of their families they did tell.

Nine months later, Kyoshi’s baby came into the world; all was well.

DEATH stood behind Kyoshi and whispered "Hello" over her shoulder.

When she didn’t sneer at its presence, DEATH only grew bolder.

“Your wife would empathize; no parent should outlive a child.

She would be glad to find out that you and TIME have finally reconciled.”

On the child’s tenth birthday, Kyoshi’s blood ran cold.

“The child is important to you,” Said DEATH, “can you stand back and watch her grow old?”

Though DEATH’s words stung deep, her answer was barely winded.

“I gave my word of honor, and it has not been rescinded.”

On the daughter’s wedding, DEATH met her outside.

The hold Time had over the child was turning the tide.

“The girl has made you human again, but the shadow will come back.”

“My love told me to live. So I will, even if my armor does crack.”

Kyoshi, now a Governor, received DEATH as a guest

A grandchild was there, just learning how to walk in the nest.

“If you will not leave, then teach your family to stay.”

“It is nothing but a curse to always exist this way.”

“So come with me, your life is yours to give.”

“I told my love, my dear wife, that I would live.”

“Without a family, that bond, what is there to life?”

“Very well,” said Kyoshi, “Just don’t tell my wife.”

And the cycle continued, for DEATH always wins.

Though Kyoshi is lucky she’ll never have to face her sins.

The past avatars must stay tethered to the mortal realm.

So their incarnations will not be left alone at the helm.

Should The Avatar travel to the blessed afterlife,

Oafish Kyoshi would be at the mercy of her wife.

A kiss the woman would get, with the promise of more.

But this is a trick, which her wife has used many times before.

Surely Kyoshi would not, could not, fall for it again.

The General’s true intentions would shine from within.

After being fooled so many times, there should be no chance.

But she’d be duped; and then forced to hold an eternal horse stance.

* * *

“Roku! How dare you recite such a poem on the very day that we are celebrating the Great Avatar Kyoshi!” The poetry master bellowed, so shocked at the thirteen-year-old’s mockery of the late avatar that he’d forgotten to improvise his criticism in rhyme.

“I’m sorry!” Roku panicked, looking at the parchment in his hands with wide eyes as if the ink had changed from the night he wrote it. While he wasn’t a good poet, thoughtful and praising verses filled the page; nothing like the words that came out to the entire classroom. He turned his work around for everyone to see, “That’s not my poem!”

His master sneered at the paper, the oral reading of the work was what they were being evaluated on, and Roku’s blatant disrespect was both surprising and appalling. He shouted at the boy in front of his peers, about honor and respect and “What’s this horse stance nonsense?”.

Ruko was berated, failed, sent to the Headmaster’s office, kicked out of the program, and then banished to an empty classroom where he wrote _‘I will show the proper respect for my superiors’_ on the chalkboard.

“Okay, that took guts I didn’t know you had!” Roku’s friend, Fire Prince Sozin, burst into the room with a huge smile on his face. He went to the other side of the room and started writing, _‘I will not laugh at disrespectful behavior and backtalk my poetry master’_ on his own board. “That was amazing. I just wanted to tell you that before your parents kill you.”

“That wasn’t the poem I wrote!” The unknown avatar looked around for witnesses before putting the chalk down and walking over to his best friend, “I don’t know why I said that! It just came out!”

“Hey, it’s just us; you don’t have to keep up the act. I get it. Poetry class stinks, and Grand Master Haiku is a bore. I wish I was brave enough to pull that stunt and get kicked out. But my father wouldn’t be nice enough to kill me, he’d make me wish I were dead.”

“The Headmaster said that starting tomorrow, I’m going to spend my poetry hour in here writing on the board.” Roku lamented, poetry class was no fun, but neither was writing sentences.

“It’s better than listening to dumb words that make no sense.” Sozin glanced to the boy beside him and put his chalk down when something else caught his eye, “Oh.”

“What?”

“I know why you did it. You just like the view, don’t you?” Sozin teased, prompting Roku to turn and look out the window. Outside, on the other side of the yard, was the girls’ academy. And the object of Roku’s affections was playing hide and shriek with her friends.

“I mean...” Roku’s dumb grin spread across his face, “it is a nice view, right?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kuruk is up to his old tricks again.😎  
> 
> 
> * * *
> 
> Okay, I know it's a little different. My first plan was to write an angsty chapter about how Rangi made Kyoshi promise to live until the world could survive without the avatar, and while Kyoshi grew to understand that would never happen, she couldn't break her word; even if she became a shadow of herself and an empty vessel of justice. 
> 
> I was going to go into detail that every once in awhile, Kyoshi would need/want to feel *something/anything* again and spend the night in a widow/widowers bed so they could feel warmth again without growing attached, and how Kyoshi would always talk about Rangi and how much she missed her (and they talked about their late spouse).
> 
> And how the unplanned birth of Koko made Kyoshi feel human again, and she couldn't watch her child grow old die, and become the living shadow again. But the poem that was going to be a short intro/outro grew much longer than I planned, and honestly, I thought it'd be a lot easier to get through.


	6. Helpful Spirit

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A lot of people wanted it, so here it is. Spirit intervention. Thanks to Lovepieck, noahs, guty and Yorkiefan01 for the suggestion! And a special thanks to lovepieck for giving me a unique spin to this.

In the frozen north, there is a forest. It is small and out of the way, but it holds a great value. This bit of land was the only place for many miles around that could grow trees. The Water Tribe was always in need of lumber for their boats and laid claim to this little, but useful, forest. The only problem was, the spirits also thought they had a claim to this forest, and they were there first.

The Northern Chief called for Kyoshi, hoping that ‘Yangchen’s wisdom would shine through’; he’d said that while putting away the plans for his new private ship. He and his council were confident Kyoshi would side with them. They stood at the barren border of the forest, stoned faced in front of Mother Root (as the spirit asked to be addressed), with the Master Ship Builder, blueprints in their sacks, and men with axes waiting to be given the go-ahead.

“I, Avatar Kyoshi, decree this Ancient Forest to be now and forevermore the property of the spirits, and leave it to the care of Mother Root.” Out of the present company, only Rangi was not surprised.

There was an uproar among both sides. Mother root screamed with surprised joy; the sound akin to fall leaves rattling in a cold wind. Maybe she had memories of Kyoshi’s two previous lives, maybe she’d just heard stories; either way, it was clear she expected to get fleeced in this deal. Limbs and twigs of the forest rattled as the large tree-like spirit thanked the Avatar repeatedly for saving her treasured forest from the axes.

The humans, they were not handling the negative verdict with grace. They urged, even ordered her to change her position. She was accused of breaking her word; she’d promised not to let their cultural-induced mistakes cloud her judgement. It went without saying the men would tell everyone they saw that Kyoshi made decisions to settle personal grievances. It really was too bad she didn’t care, wasn’t it? Her eyes lit up, more for show than anything, and she stomped the ground to knock every tribesman off his feet and remind them all just who was in charge here.

“You will remove your people from this land, and never return here. If I should come back and find any tree, any twig, any leaf to be defiled; I will take your home, and the homes of your councilmen, and give them to Mother Root.”

They stood frozen for a moment before remembering their manners, with the help of Kyoshi opening her fans. They bowed, however begrudgingly, and returned to their ice homes empty handed.

“Avatar, would you and your wife have a drink before you leave?” The spirit raised a seedling from the snow that quickly turned into a little tree with three pieces of fruit that took the shape of cups; inside sloshed green liquid. The two women gave each other a look ‘ _is this safe to drink/I’m not so sure’._

“Thank you, Mother Root.” Rangi said with no trace of hesitance in her voice, picking a cup like an apple and toasting her. Kyoshi was quick to follow suit. It was sweet, almost too sweet to bare, with a sour bite at the end. The Avatar found herself enjoying the drink until a solid lump slid destructively down her throat. She gagged and coughed in a rather undignified manner.

“Seeds.” Rangi said flatly as she rubbed between her wife’s shoulder blades. Honestly, they were big enough that the firebender didn’t know how her oaf could miss them.

“Sorry.” Kyoshi said as she straightened up, glad her makeup was hiding her blush, “It was so delicious that I was gulping too fast to pay attention.”

The spirit seemed rather unimpressed but said nothing on the matter. Kyoshi went on with a promise to come back and check in on the forest from time to time, and that concluded their business in the North. They were bid a polite goodbye from Mother Root with wishes for a safe journey.

Staying at the Northern Tribe just seemed like a bad idea, in the best-case scenario they would be unwelcome guests, with all good tempers dying the moment they entered a room. Rather than deal with the unpleasantness, they packed up Kyoshi’s bison, ZhenZhen, and bid the Chief an obligatory fair well.

With the promise of extra apples, the bison managed to make the trip to the Northern Air Temple in the earliest hours of the morning. The monks were clearly tired and off guard as they were woken up at the unholy hour, but they were polite; offering to escort them to the avatar’s room and tend to the animals. Kyoshi turned them down. They knew the way, there was no point in keeping anyone else awake.

Rangi hauled their supplies to their room while Kyoshi took ZhenZhen to the bison pens. She spoke softly to the animal as she unsaddled her, praising her for flying them so far, for working even while everyone else had gotten a turn to sleep. She gave the animal a quick brushing and the promised apples, one of which was stolen by her animal guide.

ZhenZhen roared in aggravation as the little animal made a quick escape.

“I know. _Someone_ doesn’t realize how lucky they are to have Rangi around to defend them.” The fox was spoiled by Rangi, probably because of its high status as ‘the Avatar’s animal guide’. Kyoshi was on ZhenZhen’s side, that little furball was a spoiled rotten brat, “Better eat the rest before the little thief comes back.” The avatar patted the bison’s nose and left her to eat her early breakfast.

Her wife met her at the door, holding all the necessary bath supplies in a bag with one hand, and grabbing Kyoshi’s hand with the other. A visit to the bathhouse did sound good, and it would be best to go while the monks were still slumbering. Rangi wasn’t giving her much of an option anyway, dragging her taller frame along the halls to the baths.

With candles and moonlight to navigate the waters, Kyoshi and Rangi finally got to relax, knowing they were too far away from the far north to be bothered by protesting Water Tribesmen. They each took turns attending to the other, making sure that their lover was clean from head to toe, and then found themselves snuggling against the side of the bath’s wall; soaking in the water kept warm through Kyoshi’s waterbending. There were times that Rangi found herself wishing, for Kyoshi’s sake, that Yun really had been the avatar and her tall earthbender could be happily living the simple life of a servant....but never while taking a bath.

“I don’t think we’ll be welcome in the Northern Tribe again.” Kyoshi finally broke the comfortable silence as she ran her fingers through Rangi’s hair, “They’ll never trust us.”

“They’ll get over it. They can get the wood from somewhere else and let Mother Root have her land.” Really Rangi didn’t see why they were even fighting for it. There was enough wood there for one glorious private boat. Was it really worth disrespecting the spirits?

“I was talking about what you did to your bed.” Kyoshi smirked, Rangi pulled away enough to glare at her. The Tribesmen insulted her, they insulted her wife, they insulted their very marriage with that damn bed. She had seen it as a challenge and dealt with it as such.

* * *

In the beginning, the Northern Leaders feigned respect, ordering servants to take their bags, and walked with them to the Avatar’s quarters. Then the princess bowed lowly with the pride of a most gracious hostess and said, “ _We’ve prepared a luxurious room just across the hall for the Avatar’s Honorable Bodyguard.”_. Rangi may be honorable, she may be the Avatar’s bodyguard, but she was Kyoshi’s wife first and foremost.

They were both quick to refuse. When Rangi realized she spoke over The Avatar in public, she apologized with a small bow and took a step behind her wife. The slight irritation of being silenced was replaced with smug satisfaction at Kyoshi’s verbal assault, she made it clear she would not tolerate the blatant disrespect shown to her wife. _“Rangi and I are one, if you will not accept that she will be by my side, then you do not accept me at all.”_. She threatened to leave them to solve their own problems, and any problems they may face in the future.

The Chief apologized and promised that if The Avatar and her, he hesitated but managed to say the word **_wife_** , would be good enough to come to the feast, this matter would be resolved before they returned. Despite his cultural beliefs, it appeared that the Chief took the hint, pulling his aid to the side and speaking in hushed whispers. He even had the seat on the other side of Kyoshi cleared so Rangi could join her at the Tribal Leaders’ table. A hush had come over the crowd, but the feast resolved without serious incident, to Rangi’s great surprise.

They were both willing to put the insult in the back of their minds; blame the earlier action on the ignorance of cultural norms and leave it at that. Then they opened the door to the Avatar’s quarters after the festivities ended. A simple servant’s bed had been set in the corner, one adorned in red and black furs.

Rangi, without hesitation and with white dragon breath, burned the bed until there was nothing left but ash. Kyoshi frowned as she watched, not because she disapproved, but because this had to happen at all. She just wished the bigots of the world could learn to keep their distain to themselves for two or three generations. What an era of peace that would create.

Her long arms wrapped around the firebender from behind, pulling her close and holding her tightly. A sigh escaped the hot lips as she leaned into her tall wife. Kyoshi kissed her cheek, and her ear, and then nuzzled into the raven hair.

“I warned them. Let’s get out of here and let the spirit have them.” She whispered firmly.

“No. This is the Avatar’s job. I have another idea.” Rangi tore off Kyoshi’s robes layer by layer throwing them around the room with angry purpose, “Don’t you dare pick those up.”

She didn’t, Rangi kept her too busy to worry about her tidying habits. The Fire Captain laid claim to the Avatar’s bed, then held Kyoshi down and laid claim to The Avatar as well.

The next morning The Avatar was so tired that she didn’t hear the servant come in. Rangi had been awake and waiting. When the small knock came to her ears, she’d made sure that the fur blanket covered them up to their shoulders and barked ‘What?’.

The poor Water Tribe woman walked into a pile of ash, clothing and armor laying randomly around the room; The Avatar’s bodyguard laying in the Avatar’s bed, with the Avatar. She gasped as she realized that both women were naked, and bruises adorned the freakishly tall one, from her shoulders to her neck and up her jaw.

This horrible scene made her run to her superior, who then ran to their superior, who ran to theirs, all the way up to the Water Chief. The whole palace was buzzing like beewasps; two women? How immoral! It was bad enough that the Avatar would sully herself by marrying the wrong type of person, but they would think she would at least respect the customs of the Nation she was in.

Later, after sneering at the state of the room, the Chief assured them that his aid had been let go and asked that this incident not affect her verdict at the Forest later on.

* * *

“You disapprove?” Rangi asked with a challenge, soaking wet now and still managing to look murderous.

“Of course not.” She stroked her flame’s cheek, “I just don’t think they’d trust us around their furniture ever again.”

There was a splash, and Kyoshi sputtered out the water Rangi pushed at her. There were no ill feelings from the taller woman, why should there be? If the esteemed firebender wanted to pick a fight with a waterbender while sitting in a pool full of the stuff, then she deserved what was coming to her. The Captain realized her tactical mistake the second Kyoshi moved away.

“Kyoshi, don’t you dare.” Too late. There was a wave taller than the Avatar behind Rangi, and the soldier made a snap decision; if she couldn’t win the war, she’d take her enemy down with her. In a flash, she’d grabbed Kyoshi and pulled her close. The wave knocked them both over. As the heavier of the two, Kyoshi tried to use her size to her advantage, getting out from under Rangi and pushing her away to make an escape, only to be caught once again when Rangi latched onto her back, bringing her to her knees and holding her still. Her face an inch above water, and her limbs trapped. It would seem that raw power would not win over this morning.

“Yield, Kyoshi.” Rangi whispered gently, as one would in a lover’s embrace rather than an armlock.

“Never.” She blasted the water beneath her, sending them both flying. Her airbending provided them a soft landing back in the water.

“Well done.” Rangi conceded, getting to her feet bowing in the typical way of ending a sparring match which Kyoshi returned. The captain closed the distance with a sway to her hips. Warning bells rang in Kyoshi’s head, “Are you ready for bed now?”

“Yes.” She grinned, wide and dumb, as Rangi’s hand moved along her bicep. It turned into a smirk as she broke her wife’s stance, throwing her back into the water before the gentle touch turned into a grapple.

Rangi huffed beneath her, mostly proud that her wife was finally learning, but also a bit disappointed that her fun had been, and would forevermore, be spoiled. Of course, Kyoshi could not resist pinning her to the floor of the baths with her body and getting her into a lock.

“Yield, Rangi.” She whispered playfully, all too delighted with herself. Her love kissed her, and somewhere, in the distance of her mind, the warning bells went off again. Unfortunately, Kyoshi was too busy to hear them. Could she be blamed, really? She had the world’s most beautiful woman under her, naked, wet, and kissing her like their very lives depended on it. So, when Rangi’s arm looped under hers, the distant warning bells that rang “We’re in Danger!” were drowned out by a pounding heartbeat that practically purred “she’s going to pull us closer”.

Kyoshi found herself breathless and on her back, with Rangi laughing above her, which made Kyoshi start giggling as well. She wasn’t being held down this time, merely being laid upon. It seemed the stubborn woman just had to have the last word. 

“Let’s go. Really.” Rangi pecked Kyoshi’s lips and got out of the baths. They dried off, still giggling, and teasing each other about their childish behaviors, and Kyoshi’s need to use a towel because she kept forgetting she could be dry with a wave of her hand, until they were free of water and in their bathrobes.

When they got into their room, the avatar looked around and fumed. The monks Kyoshi had ordered back to bed had been busy preparing the room. The traditional offerings of flowers, a basket with nuts and fruits, extra linens, scented oils, and decorative candles had been arranged. She knew what it was like to be roused out of bed by an important guest, to smile and pretend like they weren’t wasting precious hours of her life, and to put on the best performance of a happy helper while whispering sweet promises to her pillow who was laying neglected on her bed across the estate grounds. Seriously, she hated important late-night arrivals, she didn’t want to be one! Give her the keys to the room and get back to bed! The nomads didn’t even have keys, why wake up at all?!

Rangi, noble that she was, didn’t even seem to notice. She clearly did, seeing that she was moving around the room lighting the wicks. It just was an expected courtesy and not worth noting until it was time to thank the host. At least Rangi was not the most snobbish of nobility, Kyoshi’s habit of also thanking the help, who actually did the work, had rubbed off on her.

A hand grabbed her by the belt pulling her out of her thoughts and nearly off balance before she planted her feet. Rangi loved surprised stance inspections, and Kyoshi was in no mood for more minutes added to her training schedule.

“Good girl.” A soft murmur came to Kyoshi’s ears and traveled down her spine in a shiver. Why did those two little words have such an effect on her when Rangi was the one speaking them? That hand was nice, too. That calloused hand that worked its way up and under the fold of the avatar’s bathrobe; hot fingers lazily caressed the skin over Kyoshi’s heart.

The day before yesterday, Rangi touched her in the same place, but it was not the same. It was a hard shove to press her down against the furs, a display of dominance and ownership upon a most-loyal subject. Now she was soft and caring, a gentle lover showing affection and hoping it would be returned. 

Kyoshi leaned to kiss Rangi’s scalp, her fingers tangled in the loose black hair. She’d thought her wife would seize the opportunity to capture her lips, but the lovely woman pulled away to her disappointment. Two long fingers rested under the tanned chin, maneuvering the head left, and then to the right for inspection.

“You look like a cheetah leopard.” An amused voice, while quiet, sounded like bells in the silent room, “I think you have more marks than freckles.”

“And who’s fault is that?” Kyoshi challenged.

“Yours.” And she’d spoken the truth. Only the three most visible had been the fault of a petty firebender. The rest had been done by request. But what was the point of wearing such heavy makeup if she couldn’t cover a few love bites, “Why don’t you heal them?”

“Why don’t you kiss them and make them all better?” She had to tease, loving to see Rangi’s blush travel from her cheeks to her ears.

“If you’re sure that will make you feel better.” She said, already making her way to Kyoshi’s jaw to kiss the first mark. Soft lips stung the aggravated skin so wonderfully no matter how gentle the touch. So much time had been spent getting to all the visible marks and kissing them, yet it wasn’t nearly long enough, “You’ll have to take this off if you want me to do the rest.”

There was a sinful grin, and now it was the Avatar’s turn to blush. So maybe, just maybe, there were hickeys pretty much everywhere. What can she say? The tribe had made her angry too, and she wanted to be claimed; not only in places where anyone could see, but in others that only Rangi had the right to. 

Kyoshi slid the robe off her shoulders, letting it fall around her feet, and somehow feeling more naked than she had in the baths. That was different, though, they both knew it. There they’d been equals, here Rangi was a predator and Kyoshi was a trapped rabbiroo.

The next kiss, on her right breast, made Kyoshi nearly jump out of her skin. The touch was hotter than expected. Her lover had breathed steam and held it in to warm her tongue, all just to make her quiver. It hadn’t backfired.

Each bruise was given the same treatment. It took no small amount of time. Rangi had to circle her, raising up on her toes, and spirits help Kyoshi’s eyes, getting to her knees to reach them all.

She wasn’t stopped from undoing Rangi’s bathrobe, bending any stray water, folding it, and putting it in its proper place. She wasn’t stopped from picking up her discarded robe and doing the same. There would be no one to annoy after dawn, no one who would spare the two lovers a passing glance, so Kyoshi’s need to be organized was not impeded. Rangi waited patiently in bed, gazing at her wife’s form, and amusing herself in ways that Kyoshi dared not to look at, least her spirit leave her body right then and there.

Her wife welcomed her into bed with open arms. And they spent a wonderful, peaceful morning together. Each of them in a playful mood, there was a lot of mischievous teasing before each orgasm. Perhaps they did break a vase after the banter turned into ostrich-horse play, but at least they could honestly say it was an accident.

* * *

Nearly three months after the trip to the Northern Water Tribe, Kyoshi was on the outs with most of the Sei'naka Clan. They did not make their outrage public, but only because they could not afford to lose face. Avatar Kyoshi had betrayed them.

No one called Kyoshi the greatest Avatar ever, in fact, most called her a disgrace; only a slight improvement on the do-nothing partier that was her predecessor. But still, the clan elders had gifted the undeserving woman one of their own, and this is how their generosity was met. With betrayal.

Then to add further insult, she had the nerve to deny her infidelity. They’d discreetly called her to face a trial before the elders, and she claimed she’d never strayed. The growing child inside her, well she didn’t know how it got there. Perhaps she thought that she was as clever as Jianzhu and they were as blind as Hei-Ran.

The wife she’d been unfaithful to would not hear them. She told the elders that Kyoshi could be an impulsive oaf, but she was nothing if not loyal. There was a baby in her wife, and Rangi’s explanation for this was that some man must have managed to slip Kyoshi something and catch her alone. Rangi kneeled before the council, she lamented that she failed in her duty to protect the Avatar, and worse, she’d failed to protect her wife. She unsheathed a knife and reached for her topknot.

Kyoshi, in a most impressive display of speed thanks to airbending, was in front of Rangi in a flash, she pulled the woman’s wrist away from her hair in a bruising grip and squeezed until the kneeling woman had no choice but to drop the weapon.

“As your Avatar, as your wife, it is **_my_** place to say if and when you’ve failed me. Not yours. Do not overstep your boundaries again.” She commanded in a booming voice. Rangi lowered her eyes, vowing on her honor to find the man responsible and end him.

Kyoshi stayed hidden in Rangi’s childhood home for many reasons. Safety, and the chance to catch the criminal behind this, mainly. If he’d found out that she was pregnant, he would know they were most likely searching for him and cover his tracks.

But it was hard. This whole situation was hard. She may not remember the deed, but it weighed heavily on her. It didn’t make it easier knowing she was trapped on an island where only one person believed her. At least that one person was the person she needed the most, but she heard talk. Everyone believed Rangi a fool to trust Kyoshi’s word. She was looked at as a blight on the good name of Sei'naka; worse even than her disgraced mother. Kyoshi’s blood boiled, but until they found the criminal responsible, she couldn’t prove them wrong.

“Kyoshi. Now that Rangi is gone, I want to speak plainly.” It had been weeks since she’d spoken at all. Hei-Ran had said nothing out of respect and love for her daughter, but now she wasn’t around, “As a mother, it is well within my rights to kill you the second after the child is born.”

Kyoshi gulped, cutting off her topknot did not make Hei-Ran a less dangerous woman. She’d worked years to build her skills back up and now Kyoshi was going to be killed for a crime she didn’t even commit.

“Any other person, any other Avatar, I wouldn’t believe for a second. As it stands, you have shown yourself to be nothing but a lovestruck imbecile.”

She gawked like an idiot. Did this mean she was going to live to see another year?

“But rest assured, if I find out that my grandchild is the product of some drunken night you’ve been hiding, I will renew the cycle before Rangi finds out. I will lie to her every day about the circumstances of your death, and I will teach your next life the importance of faithfulness. Do I make myself clear?”

Kyoshi stood straighter. There was nothing Hei-Ran could teach her about being faithful, “That will not happen, because you can’t prove what hasn’t happened. I love Rangi, and there is nothing that could make me stray from her.”

“Good.” Hei-Ran surprised her with a hug, firm, and comforting. “We’ll find who did this, Kyoshi. And after we do, Rangi will take her rightful place as the mother of your child.”

Rangi traveled with Jinpa and a small group to attend to her wife’s Avatar duties. In her free time, she searched for the man who’d done this to her. The timeframe put the possibilities in the Water Tribe, Yokoya, and The Northern Air Temple. She’d searched, but everything lead to nothing. The only person she could find with means and opportunity was a man -hardly more than a boy- who regularly put sleeping tonic into his parents evening drink so he could sneak out to meet with his boyfriend.

She returned from each mission in shame. Her only solace was found in helping her wife through this difficult time and preparing for their baby. 

* * *

“Mamma, my leaves are turning over.” Koko leaned down as she rode on Kyoshi’s shoulders and showed her Fire mom the design changing on her arm.

“We better head inside.” It was almost time for Koko’s nap, anyway, and she would want at least two stories before she even thought about falling asleep.

“Why?” The child seemed to disagree, outside was so much more interesting than inside. That and she had the sneaking suspicion that they were going to but her down for a boring nap and go have adventures without her. Maybe they would fight a furious sea beast, maybe a giant dark spirit, who knew all the fun things she missed out on because of stupid naps.

“The leaves say so.” Kyoshi grabbed her daughter’s hands to cup them like a bowl, “Leaves on some trees turn over so they can catch the water when it rains, little seedling.”

“I’m not a seedling! I’m a big girl now!” 

“Forgive me.” Kyoshi rolled her eyes with a knowing smile at Rangi, _‘she takes after you’._

The mystery had been solved the night Koko was born. She had what resembled tattoos of the finest detail, reminding everyone of Air tattoos in their coverage of the baby’s body. A tree trunk ran along her spine, roots down her legs, leaf covered branches spread over her arms and her head.

Kyoshi had swallowed a seed, and the seed grew into a baby with bronze eyes who set a piece of cotton on fire in an instant; raven hair soon covered the branches on her head. The leaves on her skin changed, they turned colors with the seasons, disappeared in winter. They blew in the wind and they turned over as if they could catch the falling rain.

Three stories later, Koko was finally snoring. Kyoshi kissed the girl’s freckled cheek and snuck out of the room, hoping to sneak in a little intimacy with Rangi while they still had a chance.

“Mommy!”

Or not.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And....we're done. Six ways Kyoshi could have had a forever girl AND a daughter. So which was your favorite, gritty and realistic or fluffy and fantasical? I personally vote for adoption myself. 😁


End file.
